Hello once again, dear Students! Welcome to our last forum; Forum 10! In our last modules we have seen different approaches that intend to address environmental crimes: general prevention strategies in Module 11; formal criminal justice system preventive agencies in Module 12; the work of lawyers, courts in general and environmental courts in particular, in Module 13; criminal justice responses (punitive and restorative) and agencies, in Module 14.
We now complement these readings with our final course videos: types of institutions and their work towards addressing problems, in Course video 10; characteristics of our 21st century, in Course video 11; the academy and the labor market, in Course video 12.
Given all of these materials and the fact that our course is close to ending, now is a good instance to think about environmental crime and about ourselves within this “ecosystem of activities”. Hence, in this last Forum you have address the following:
Assignment 01: Your own thread.
Connecting our last topics and thinking about our future.
Consider all of what was said above, our material and all guidelines to properly do this assignment.
In a first (01) paragraph, briefly say what you see yourself doing in the future as a professional in our field. Ideally, say the name of the position you would like to have; some tasks and/or responsibilities; and the institution(s) or type of institution(s) you would take part in. Be as specific as you can: it is ok if you do not know these things for sure, or if you are considering different options. In any case, supporting your words with sources (Course videos and/or readings) strengthens your work here. See guidelines at the end to do this properly.
In a second (01) paragraph, mention one (01) or two (02) specific aspect(s) in which this course has impacted your view on such professional future. This can be the learning of facts you did not know; the use of theories; specific reading(s) and/or author(s); a specific challenge our criminal justice systems may have to address environmental crime; amongst other options. Here again supporting your words with sources (Course videos and/or readings) strengthens your work here. See guidelines at the end to do this properly.
If needed to avoid excessively long paragraphs (i.e. those over 150 words), you can use a third (01) paragraph to provide a conclusion; closing comments; doubts; contributions to our field and/or salutations.
Guidelines: 1) Overall length should be 250-400 words. 2) Organize the answer into two (02) or three (03) paragraphs. 3) Cite at least two (02) pieces of material, including one (01) reading and one (01) Course video.
Assignment 02. Your answer to a peer:
Choose one (01) peer that chose a type of work and/or an institution to work at that is/are different from your choice(s).
In a first (01) paragraph, salute the person and provide one (01) or two (02) brief comments about the person’s global production.
In a second (01) paragraph, provide specific comments about how you think the peer’s chosen professional path may related to your professional path. Specifically, provide comments about how these two (02) paths may complement each other; and how the institution(s) could coordinate efforts to address the pressing issue of environmental crime. Once again here, supporting your words with proper use of sources (Course videos and/or readings) to strengthen your work.
If needed to avoid excessively long paragraphs (i.e. those over 150 words), you can use a third (01) paragraph to provide a conclusion; closing comments; and/or salutations.
Guidelines: 1) Overall length should be 240-360 words. 2) Organize the answer into two (02) or three (03) paragraphs.
Category: Ejs
2) Case and prompts: your Final Paper has to address the prompts specified below in point A.- 5), all answered in the same document but separately (different sheets) in relation to the case already defined.
3) Sources: you have to use the two (02) sources already defined to treat everything directly related to the case.
You should also use other sources we have seen throughout the course to support your answers.
4) Balance between original content and cited work proportions: this Final Paper is not a long production, so your ability resides in maintaining a proper balance between: 1) A good use of sources, feeding the Final Paper with information. 2) A fair amount of your own original thoughts, connecting the information you obtained from sources through your own creative work.
Short literal citations are allowed. Do not cite literally long pieces like an entire paragraph. This point relates to points B.- 3); D.- 4) and D.- 5). Please think of all four of them connectedly.
5) Prompts to address: your Final Paper should answer separately (in differente sheets) to each of the following prompts:
Prompt 01; Brief explanation of the case: here you have to use your approved sources to clearly explain to the reader where and when the problem started; how it developed; which actors (e.g. humans, flora, fauna, whole ecosystems and/or institutions) it affected; up until when and where did the harmful consequences expanded; why is this an environmental problem (here you do not have to say anything about whether or not this is a crime).
Prompt 02; Responses that actually took place: this part includes a.- social repercussions; b.- law enforcement responses; c.- justice responses (civil, criminal, restorative, etcetera); and d.- policy responses (Executive and/or Legislative branches from local, state and/or federal level).
Prompt 03; Are there human conducts present in the case that constitute “a crime”? Answer “Yes” or “No” and justify: To answer, choose one (01) of two (02) paths à Option A- Purely legal path: since Amendment VI mandates that all criminal prosecutions have to be “previously ascertained by law”, you can identify the criminal law(s) (not civil or administrative) of the jurisdiction you chose to answer to this part, and see if the conducts of the case can be perfectly fitted into any of the crimes defines by such legislation; or Option B- Alternative path: if access to or understanding of the criminal law of the time and place of the problem is too difficult (e.g. laws in a language you do not master), use your reasoning, the Bill of Rights and the general theory of criminal law (actus rea/guilty conduct and mens rea/guilty mind) to analyze the human conducts. I do not expect you to be well versed in all of this, but at least be clear about whether or not the harmful actions were conscious (the actor knew what was doing) and freely chosen (the actor could have acted differently and did not). Regardless of the path chosen, provide sufficient rationale.
Prompt 04; your own ways of addressing the problem: sufficiently explained, justified and supported by our course’s literature (especially that of Modules 11 to 15), provide:
One (01) general policy: specify one (01) general policy. The policy’s goal can be either to prevent similar problems from happening, or to provide a clear administrative solution if they appear. You have to “stand in the feet” of an Executive or a Legislative decisionmaker; from a local, state or federal level. The choice is yours but choose one (01) and be clear about it. This is the only of the three ideas in which you have to think “in general” (for similar cases) and not “in particular” (for this one case).
One (01) punishment decision for this case: specify one (01) typical criminal justice court’s response you would provide for those whose criminal conduct (if any) caused the specific problem you treated. Here you have to “stand in the feet” of a judge deciding, based on evidence presented throughout he literature. Be specific as to who would obtain which punishment, and why.
One (01) alternative justice decision for this case: specify one (01) non-typical court’s response (i.e. not a punishment) you would provide in relation to those whose conduct (criminal or not) caused the specific problem you treated. Here you have to “stand in the feet” of a judge deciding, based on evidence presented throughout he literature; but the focus is not punitive. Be specific as to which conduct you would be reacting to, and why you are choosing such response.
B.- Structure and format rules:
1) Structure: the Final Paper should be structured following the prompts, answering to each separately (different sheets), starting by identifying each with its corresponding number and title. Furthermore, the overall structure is as follows, in this order:
ONE (01) cover page, expressing course information, name of the student and title of the Final Paper.
A maximum of ONE (01) page addressing Prompt 01 (“Brief explanation of the case”).
A maximum of ONE (01) page addressing Prompt 02 (“Responses that actually took place”).
A maximum of ONE (01) page addressing Prompt 03 (“Does any human conduct present in the case constitute “a crime”?).
A maximum of TWO (02) pages addressing Prompt 04 (“Ideal responses designed for the problem”). Here, each of the three responses has to be addressed separately but not in different sheets, and the total of all three cannot exceed TWO (02) pages.
ONE (01) page for the used bibliography (cited APA).
As a result, your Final Paper should have a total of SIX (06) or SEVEN (07) pages, including cover and bibliography pages. In case you still have doubts, each prompt has to be answered in different sheets, starting with its number and title, and following with the answer. You will lose points if you submit a Final Paper that is not structured with separated answers for each prompt.
2) Format rules: the Final Paper has to be written in font Times New Roman; size 12; 1.5 paragraph spacing; standard margins; text body aligned to the left.
SOURCES
The News
Article: Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Flint water crisis. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Flint-water-crisis
The Academic Source: Trejo, S., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., & Jacob, B. (2024). The effects of the Flint water crisis on the educational outcomes of school-age children. Science Advances, 10(11), eadk4737. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adk4737