You are a Community Outreach Coordinator for your local chapter of the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA). A recent study found that people in your area are often unsure of court processes, procedures, and outcomes.
CJ 207 Project Two Guidelines and Rubric
Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
- Explain the processes and procedures used in courts
Scenario
You are a Community Outreach Coordinator for your local chapter of the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA). A recent study found that people in your area are often unsure of court processes, procedures, and outcomes. As a result, they often are not able to make informed decisions at this critical time in their lives. Using this published research, you have applied for and been awarded a small grant to create community outreach materials to educate the public about court processes.
Directions
The community outreach materials you create should show your knowledge of the following criteria. A template and other possible presentation formats are included in the Supporting Materials section.
- Describe how a defendant moves through the criminal justice system from arrest to sentencing. In 150–200 words, address movement from one step of the process to the next for each of the following:
- Arrest
- Arraignment
- Pretrial hearing
- Bail
- Trial
- Verdict
- Sentencing
- Appeal
- Describe alternative processes and their impact on the criminal court system. In 150–200 words, address each of the following:
- Plea bargains
- Restorative justice principles
- Describe the function of juries in the trial process. In 150–200 words, address each of the following:
- Civil cases
- How is this type of jury selected?
- What is the responsibility of this type of jury?
- Criminal cases
- How is this type of jury selected?
- What is the responsibility of this type of jury?
- Civil cases
- Describe the impact of specific sentencing guidelines. In 150–200 words, address each of the following:
- Why do sentencing guidelines exist?
- Identify 2–3 examples of sentencing guidelines.
- Describe the effects of each of the sentence guidelines you identified.
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Educational Material
For this project, choose the format that works best for you. Please note there is no requirement related to the way you show your knowledge, as long as you meet the rubric requirements by following the directions.
We have created the following optional template to aid you in completing this project:
If you prefer to create different community outreach materials, consider creating one of the following:
- Infographic (See the Supporting Materials section.)
- Video for a website
- Other handout
If you choose from the above list, make sure your format can include all of the rubric requirements explained in detail in the Directions section.
Supporting Materials
The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:
Project Two Template Word Document
This template can be used to create your community outreach materials.
Website: Piktochart
This website can be used to easily make an infographic or visual.
Project Two Rubric
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations (100%) | Meets Expectations (85%) | Partially Meets Expectations (55%) | Does Not Meet Expectations (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear Communication | Exceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 15 |
| The Criminal Justice System | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes how a defendant moves through the criminal justice system from arrest to sentencing | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include addressing each identified step in the process | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Alternative Processes | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes alternative processes and their impact on the criminal court system | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include addressing the alternative process of plea bargaining or the alternative process of restorative justice principles | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Juries | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the function of juries in the trial process | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include describing how civil case juries are selected and their responsibility or describing how criminal case juries are selected and their responsibility | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Sentencing Guidelines | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the impact of specific sentencing guidelines | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include describing why sentencing guidelines exist, identifying multiple examples of sentencing guidelines, or describing the effects of each identified sentencing guideline | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Citations and Attributions | Attributes sources where applicable using citation methods with very few minor errors | Uses citation for ideas requiring attribution | Attributes sources where applicable, but with major errors | Does not attribute sources where applicable | 5 |
| Total: | 100% | ||||