The Civil Grand Jury Simulation will serve as a teaching and learning experience for students.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Individuals who complete the Simulation will acquire the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:
- Knowledge gained include the political and legal history of California civil grand juries, application and select processes of grand jurors, how grand juries set their agenda, conduct investigations, and issue reports, and working collegially and cooperatively in groups.
- Skills developed include proficiency in analyzing historical and contemporary political and legal texts, conducting investigations, preparing reports, reading reports for their findings and recommendations, and analyzing local governments’ responses to reports.
- Abilities obtained include the capacity to apply to serve on a civil grand jury, capacity to explain the process of how reports are developed, and the capacity to explain how local government act or do not act on the findings and recommendations included in reports.
Learning Objectives
After completing the Simulation, an individual will be able to:
- Remember the political and legal history of California civil grand juries.
- Understand the importance of collegiality and cooperation among grand jurors.
- Apply agenda setting to determine which local governments are investigated.
- Analyze how information gathered through investigation results in findings or recommendations.
- Evaluate local governments’ responses to report findings and recommendations.
- Create an outline for a civil grand jury report, which includes background information, findings, and recommendations.
Deliverables
- 7-part Simulation: Civil Grand Juries that can be adopted by faculty teaching Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics or Introduction to California Government and Politics courses.