Part 3: Plea Bargaining and Arraignment

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Unit 3: Criminal Law and the Pursuit of Justice

Activity 3D: Preparation for Arraignment 

To edit the felony arraignment scripts for classroom use, use these MicroSoft® Word files: 

Videos and Transcripts of Interviews with Criminal Justice Professionals: 

  • Kamala Harris, District Attorney for city and county of San Francisco in 2009, discusses how personal experience, knowledge, being informed, and ethical responsibilities all weigh in on making decisions. Her parents were involved in the civil rights movement, so she was exposed to justice early on and felt she had a responsibility to serve in order to give a voice to the voiceless. Other topics of the interview include being tough and smart on crime, crime prevention, and how she is addressing re-entry to reduce the recidivism rate. As of January 3, 2011, Kamala Harris became the 32nd Attorney General of the State of California.
  • Jim Hammer, former San Francisco District Attorney, discusses balancing compassion with crime and punishment, problems with plea bargaining, the importance of trying tough cases, working with victims’ families, and recommendations on how to make tough neighborhoods safer. Crime in the City (13:06) 2006. San Francisco Unscripted.
  • Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender discusses what a public defender is and how it came to be, Japanese Internment Camps and how they affected his family and views of justice and this country, how he got started in public defender work and the experience of running for office. He also talks about his supportive legal team and the balance of not personally judging clients and making sure the system is working.

Activity 3E: Arraignment 

Courtroom Arrangement