Curricular Enhancement Project
Court Observation Outline
I. Introduction
II. Nature and Participants
United States of America vs. Charles "Chuck" Thomas
III. Testimony and Arguments defense
Main Argument of Defense
Family Issues
Plain Error
Violation of 6th Amendment
Blakely vs. Washington
Court's Response
V. What I Learned
I. Introduction
This was certainly not Charles Thomas's first time in a court room, several months before this he was being tired on a base offence level for money laundering with his partner Herbert Fletcher. Fletcher was tried in a different trial but was still called as a witness to this trial as a result of him pleading guilty and striking a deal with the court for his full cooperation. Through his cross examination we discovered that Thomas had wired money to several different banks throughout the states in order to hide the traces, and eventually wired a sum of 564,000 dollars into a bank account of his in the Bahamas. The Business that he was running was taking on several construction jobs when Thomas and his team stopped appearing at the sights. The damages that the Banding Company incurred from Thomas's actions was a sum of 6, 483,493. Thomas was tried with a total offence level of 28, witch equals 78-97 months in prison. This total included the adjustment for amount of funds being 600,000 to one million dollars, and an adjustment for Thomas role in the offense as an organizer and a leader. Thomas Challenged both upward adjustments claiming that the amount of funds should fall within a lower range, his defense was that the money spread throughout the banks in the US should not be included in the amount of money he laundered. He also claimed that he should no...
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...is experience, perhaps the most important being not waiting till the last minute to get something done. I have to leave myself enough time to allow for things when they don't go as planed.
In a different light I was able to deepen my understanding for law and the way the appellate court works. For one, I never knew that two briefs were written for one case, one being the opinion and the other being the response. I learned about past court decisions that were referenced in order to a response to the Appellant such as, Blakely vs. Washington and The United States vs. Booker.
I also noticed a bias towards the appellant by the file clerk, when he was explaining to the processes of the Criminal and Immigration appellate cases, he made it seem as if there are too many appellant who are successful at their hearings, and this was exemplified in both cases I read.
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s set a rolling it must increase (Charles Caleb Colton).” Colton describes that once corruption has begun, it is difficult to stop. Corruption has existed in this country, let alone this very planet, since the beginning of time. With corruption involves: money, power, and favoritism. Many people argue today that racism is still a major problem to overcome in today’s legal system. American author (and local Chicago resident) Steve Bogira jumps into the center of the United States justice system and tells the story of what happens in a typical year for the Cook Country Criminal Courthouse, which has been noted as one of the most hectic and busiest felony courthouses in the entire country. After getting permission from one of the courthouse judges’ (Judge Locallo) he was allowed to venture in and get eyewitness accounts of what the American Legal System is and how it operates. Not only did he get access to the courtroom but: Locallo’s chambers, staff, even his own home. In this book we get to read first hand account of how America handles issues like: how money and power play in the court, the favoritism towards certain ethnic groups, and the façade that has to be put on by both the defendants and Cook County Workers,
their knowledge of how the real world is supposed to be. In the real world, I live each and everyday to
My practical skills that helped me perform these tasks our my responsibility, strength, and kindness. All of these
Self-discipline is that driver, which will get you off your butt every day so that you will actually take the action, you need to take to succeed. The sooner you start down the road
I learned how issues of people with intersecting identities need an intersectional solution. The movie Salt of the Earth provided me with a wonderful example of this. The women had to first overcome the oppressions they faced as women before dealing with the oppressions they faced as Latinx people.
perseverance I will overcome adversity. During that time this experience also taught me how to stay
Overall, I think that this experience was a great way to see how law and society interact with one another in order to bring order and conformity to the community. I was interesting to see how in the post-arraignment the threat of a more severe punishment as a deterrent is used to keep individuals from getting into further trouble with the court. It’s apparent that the use of the justice system will always be needed in order to keep order in a continuously changing society and spending just a couple of hours at the courthouse is a great way to learn about what behaviors society finds to be unjust and in need of reprimand.
my life, it is something that I have to have the will to gain the skills I need to be able to
... for someone, and finding a means for success. These are important lessons to be learned, which can be applied to in life.
One thing that has shaped me into a better leader and has helped me change my
...wisdom more often. These values are so thoughtful and admirable; I wish I could emulate them in my daily life more freely and without hesitation.
This course has enabled me to think more independently and write in a logical manner, as well as being able to write concisely with well-drawn up arguments. I am now able to use my knowledge of the basic law and case law, and to then apply it to realistic situations reaching conclusions, the knowledge also helps me to develop crucial evaluation skills that will not only be beneficial when completing a law degree, but in everyday life. Law has also been able to improve my organisation skills and critical thinking. I am also studying psychology. This, alongside law, has aided my ability to write with clarity and precision, as well as structured arguments which I can then support with evidence. This subject entails analysis of theories, data, and explanations, meaning that I am able to construct clear conclusions, which can be applied to everyday life. Whilst completing my maths A-level I have developed my ability to think logically and to solve problems, as well as processing and analysing information that is presented in a variety of ways has improved. I am also able to present a solution clearly and tackle the
In claiming my education, learning new skills to help me in my life journey. It taught me how to write effectively and proofread. This will help me a lot in my everyday life and in my career field. In the paralegal field writing, any court orders are very important because how you write an order and be translated something different what court order. This class has helped me in a lot of ways. By working hard through these sixteen weeks, engaging in an assignment that was tough I did not quit or give up. I use
This is shown in full effect when they pick the jury both lawyers are trying to pick people that give them an advantage in court for defendant it was wives with children and people with a lot wealthier people that have better standards while the other man was looking for rednecks and people that hate black people this will help him to persuade the jury to the other
...he defendant; if he thought defense counsel was greedy, he’d jail the client.” All of the judge’s decisions are based on the power he has over his courtroom. In Feige’s description it appears as if there is a lack of checks and balances in this area of the system. The example demonstrates that sometimes the system is so revolving around itself the people that are going through it simply get in the way. Instead of an equal approach to all cases the judge let’s the representation of the defendant play a factor in the retribution that the person makes to society.