Reading and Writing Workshop
Rights, Discrimination, and Reform
Session 1: Introduction to Justice and Injustice
Reading:
Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28198
Discussion Focus:
Write a personal response connecting Douglass’s critique to a modern issue in criminal justice.
Session 2: Discrimination in Law Enforcement
Reading:
Ida B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14975
Discussion Focus:
Summarize Wells’s main argument. Then, argue whether similar patterns of racialized violence still exist today.
Session 3: Gender and Justice
Reading:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Solitude of Self (1892)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31220
Discussion Focus:
Reflect on the significance of gender in one's experience with legal systems, using both Stanton and a modern example.
Session 4: Criminality and Mental Illness
Reading:
Dorothea Dix, Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature (1843)
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044055320332&view=1up&seq=5
Discussion Focus:
Write a policy memo recommending reforms for the treatment of mentally ill individuals in today’s criminal justice system.
Session 5: The Constitution and Equal Protection
Reading:
U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27
Discussion Focus:
Analyze whether the criminal justice system fulfills the promise of the 14th Amendment in practice.
Session 6: Protest, Reform, and Resistance
Reading:
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71
Discussion Focus:
Write a persuasive essay: Is civil disobedience necessary to achieve justice in the criminal system?
Session 7: Prisons and Human Rights
Reading:
Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/301
Discussion Focus:
Compare Wilde’s depiction of prison to current issues in incarceration (solitary confinement, overcrowding, etc.).
Session 8: Justice and Reform in Political Thought
Reading:
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Chapter 4: On the Limits to the Authority of Society over the Individual)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34901
Discussion Focus:
Write an argumentative essay: Should the state have more or less power in criminal sentencing?
Session 9: Writing Workshop – Position Paper Drafting
Activity:
Students develop a strong argumentative position on:
What reform matters most, and why?
Session 10: Final Reflection and Public Read-Aloud
Activity:
Position Paper (3–5 pages):
Session 1: Introduction to Justice and Injustice
Reading:
Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28198
Discussion Focus:
- What does Douglass say about hypocrisy and justice in America?
- How does systemic injustice appear in his speech?
Write a personal response connecting Douglass’s critique to a modern issue in criminal justice.
Session 2: Discrimination in Law Enforcement
Reading:
Ida B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14975
Discussion Focus:
- What patterns of discrimination does Wells describe?
- What role does law enforcement play in her analysis?
Summarize Wells’s main argument. Then, argue whether similar patterns of racialized violence still exist today.
Session 3: Gender and Justice
Reading:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Solitude of Self (1892)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31220
Discussion Focus:
- How does Stanton frame the relationship between justice and gender?
- How might this relate to the treatment of women in today’s justice system?
Reflect on the significance of gender in one's experience with legal systems, using both Stanton and a modern example.
Session 4: Criminality and Mental Illness
Reading:
Dorothea Dix, Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature (1843)
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044055320332&view=1up&seq=5
Discussion Focus:
- How does Dix describe the conditions of the mentally ill in prisons?
- What reforms does she propose?
Write a policy memo recommending reforms for the treatment of mentally ill individuals in today’s criminal justice system.
Session 5: The Constitution and Equal Protection
Reading:
U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27
Discussion Focus:
- What protections does the 14th Amendment promise?
- How do courts interpret “equal protection” in criminal cases?
Analyze whether the criminal justice system fulfills the promise of the 14th Amendment in practice.
Session 6: Protest, Reform, and Resistance
Reading:
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71
Discussion Focus:
- What does Thoreau argue about unjust laws and the role of the individual?
- How might protest movements like Black Lives Matter relate to his philosophy?
Write a persuasive essay: Is civil disobedience necessary to achieve justice in the criminal system?
Session 7: Prisons and Human Rights
Reading:
Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/301
Discussion Focus:
- How does Wilde describe prison conditions and psychological suffering?
- What is the relationship between punishment and dignity?
Compare Wilde’s depiction of prison to current issues in incarceration (solitary confinement, overcrowding, etc.).
Session 8: Justice and Reform in Political Thought
Reading:
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Chapter 4: On the Limits to the Authority of Society over the Individual)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34901
Discussion Focus:
- When should society be allowed to punish individuals?
- What limits does Mill place on government authority?
Write an argumentative essay: Should the state have more or less power in criminal sentencing?
Session 9: Writing Workshop – Position Paper Drafting
Activity:
- Peer workshops: exchange drafts and provide feedback
- Conferencing: one-on-one mini-sessions with the teacher
- Use AI support (if permitted) to refine thesis and counterarguments
Students develop a strong argumentative position on:
What reform matters most, and why?
Session 10: Final Reflection and Public Read-Aloud
Activity:
- Volunteers share excerpts from their final position papers
- Class reflection on what they’ve learned about justice, discrimination, and reform
Position Paper (3–5 pages):
- Clear thesis
- Use of at least two public domain sources
- Proposal of a specific reform backed by evidence