In the wake of the grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri and New York determining not to indict the police officers in the death of Michael Brown and Eric Gardner respectively, questions began to race through my mind. I needed some answers, clear answers, to my questions. At this time there is constant media coverage on television. But depending on the media source you get your news, you will embark on outlets promoting their bias spin. So to quiet the noise, I took learning into my own hands. I took to reading!
I wanted to know the answers to the following questions:
1) What is a grand jury?
2) What is the role of a grand jury?
3) Where in our Constitution speaks about a grand jury?
4) What is the definition of indictment?
As an educator I felt the urge to learn more about the our Constitution and the process of the Grand Jury. So took to the internet and surfed seeking out primary sources, authoritative sites and sites students could visit understand. Here is what I found:
The Fifth Amendment: Rights of Persons – From the US Government Printing Office – PDF document
Cornell University Law School Annotated Fifth Amendment
Constitution Center The Constitution and interpretation of the amendments
How Does a Grand Jury Work? – From Findlaw.com
Indictment defined – Law.com
This is a teachable moment in our students lifetime. No matter what views you may have on the issues arising from these unfortunate incidents, we owe it our students to help them navigate through this time. This can be a very emotional time for most, but let’s not forget to teach our history. Our forefathers left us a blueprint called the Constitution. I think this is a prime opportunity to take it out and have a close read.
If you have other good sites to explore….please share with me!
Interesting article Food for Thought
The Grand Jury’s Day is Done – Article featured in the New York Daily News
Teach2Know 
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