Korematsu Mock Trial
Mock Trial Reflection
Our most recent project in humanities class has been
performing a mock trial of the supreme court case of Korematsu, a man
who disregarded the exclusion order 9066 sending all those of
Japanese descent to internment camps during WWII. We were each given
a role to play in the trial, either a witness (I was a witness), a
lawyer, or a judge. We each did research and work specific to the
role we played during the trial. As a witness, I was playing two men
who did intelligence work on Japanese on the West coast, Curtis
Munson and Kenneth Ringle. I had to perform research on both of these
men an write bios for them, as well as work with the lawyer assigned
to the witnesses to come up with direct and cross-examination
questions to be asked during the trial. After doing all the work
required for a real trial, our exhibition was to perform a mock trial
where all witnesses would be called forward, and where lawyers would
make their cases for the judge on whether Korematsu broke the law,
and whether internment camps were following the constitution, and
passed strict scrutiny.
During this project we worked in teams to complete work. As defense witnesses we each had the same work to do, however we were each acting as different people so there was not as much group work in that. We worked more as a team with our lawyers coming up with direct and cross-examination questions to ask during the trial. We needed come up with a case to present for each witness, and show how these people could show how exclusion order 9066 did not pass strict scrutiny. It was at times hard to be on the same page as our lawyers because they were doing work for some areas of the trial that my witness was not apart of, so being sure that our lawyers got all the information needed was at times hard to do. Also because they had different due date than we did, it was hard to stay on the same page as far as work. Also, it was at times unclear who would be doing what, if the witness should be coming up and answering both direct and cross-examination questions or if that was the lawyers job. There were some things we had to work through, but working as a team was good, and kept everyone from slacking off, it made sure that everyone was held accountable and had to do their share of work to make the trial happen.
While writing a biography of Curtis Munson, I originally was researching him and his life, and then putting into a story of sorts where everything was written like a first person essay. After talking to Ashley however I was able to make a more bullet pointed list of major events and how these are relevant. In this way I was able to write a more accurate account of the witnesses life and the information was more easily accessible. My lawyer and I didn’t have to read through the whole bio just to get one piece of information on the witness, but were instead able to just look it up and find the information easier. This is one major revision I made to my research and writing piece and it helped to make information more easily accessible and me to perform better in the trial. Another revision I made to the writing component of the mock trial project was adding more information on the witnesses past life as well has their direct work associating with the case. This helped me to have more background information on them. Learning about the witnesses past helped me in the case, but it also took away from the research I did relevant to the case. There were some questions asked which I didn’t know the answer to because I didn’t do enough 'present day' research.
I liked this project a lot, I have always been interested in court cases, how they work, and how lawyers can make a case for something. Being a witness I didn’t get a lot of experience in this area, but was still able to see how the court worked and the cases each lawyer made for his or her side. Also, the workload for this project was perfect, we had to work to get things done and learn our parts to do well, but at the same time we were not overwhelmed with work during the project, this was very nice for me especially with all the extra things going on lately and the school I have missed. For someone next year doing this project, I would suggest being sure you know EVERYTHING about your character, it is not fun being up on the witness stand and looking stupid because you don't know the answer to a simple question. This happened to me a couple times, just make sure you have a complete overview of your character. I could have taken a step back from my research and done more on broad aspects of my character's lives. I seemed to focus on a couple parts of his life, but wasn’t as prepared for cross-examination because I didn’t take a step back and research things other than what was asked in direct examination.
During this project we worked in teams to complete work. As defense witnesses we each had the same work to do, however we were each acting as different people so there was not as much group work in that. We worked more as a team with our lawyers coming up with direct and cross-examination questions to ask during the trial. We needed come up with a case to present for each witness, and show how these people could show how exclusion order 9066 did not pass strict scrutiny. It was at times hard to be on the same page as our lawyers because they were doing work for some areas of the trial that my witness was not apart of, so being sure that our lawyers got all the information needed was at times hard to do. Also because they had different due date than we did, it was hard to stay on the same page as far as work. Also, it was at times unclear who would be doing what, if the witness should be coming up and answering both direct and cross-examination questions or if that was the lawyers job. There were some things we had to work through, but working as a team was good, and kept everyone from slacking off, it made sure that everyone was held accountable and had to do their share of work to make the trial happen.
While writing a biography of Curtis Munson, I originally was researching him and his life, and then putting into a story of sorts where everything was written like a first person essay. After talking to Ashley however I was able to make a more bullet pointed list of major events and how these are relevant. In this way I was able to write a more accurate account of the witnesses life and the information was more easily accessible. My lawyer and I didn’t have to read through the whole bio just to get one piece of information on the witness, but were instead able to just look it up and find the information easier. This is one major revision I made to my research and writing piece and it helped to make information more easily accessible and me to perform better in the trial. Another revision I made to the writing component of the mock trial project was adding more information on the witnesses past life as well has their direct work associating with the case. This helped me to have more background information on them. Learning about the witnesses past helped me in the case, but it also took away from the research I did relevant to the case. There were some questions asked which I didn’t know the answer to because I didn’t do enough 'present day' research.
I liked this project a lot, I have always been interested in court cases, how they work, and how lawyers can make a case for something. Being a witness I didn’t get a lot of experience in this area, but was still able to see how the court worked and the cases each lawyer made for his or her side. Also, the workload for this project was perfect, we had to work to get things done and learn our parts to do well, but at the same time we were not overwhelmed with work during the project, this was very nice for me especially with all the extra things going on lately and the school I have missed. For someone next year doing this project, I would suggest being sure you know EVERYTHING about your character, it is not fun being up on the witness stand and looking stupid because you don't know the answer to a simple question. This happened to me a couple times, just make sure you have a complete overview of your character. I could have taken a step back from my research and done more on broad aspects of my character's lives. I seemed to focus on a couple parts of his life, but wasn’t as prepared for cross-examination because I didn’t take a step back and research things other than what was asked in direct examination.