Embedded Files
Overview
Overview
The struggle to adapt to life after conviction is a major challenge, especially for those who were innocent of the crime that led to a prison sentence. In this lesson, students meet Anthony Ray Hinton, one of hundreds of people who were exonerated, or had charges against him dropped after he’d been convicted and sent to prison. The lesson asks you to consider what it would be like to be convicted of a crime you didn’t commit, or be a family member of someone convicted of a crime even though they are innocent.
Objectives
Objectives
Examine the challenges faced by individuals wrongfully convicted of felonies.
Discuss systemic error in the criminal justice system and the real impact of wrongful convictions on individual lives.
Look at the ways race and other factors play a role in wrongful convictions.
Brain Prep: Think...
Brain Prep: Think...
What would you do if you or a loved one was arrested for a crime they did not commit? What challenges do you think you or they would face once home after a long prison stay?
Anthony Ray Hinton: Claiming My Life Back
Anthony Ray Hinton: Claiming My Life Back
Anthony Ray Hinton_ Claiming My Life Back.mp4Video Discussion Questions
Video Discussion Questions
What were the charges brought against Mr. Hinton?
What were the five reasons given by the police officer that guaranteed Mr. Hinton’s conviction, according to Hinton?
What was the turning point in prison for Mr. Hinton? What happened to make him stop accepting defeat and start fighting back?
Why was it important for a white ballistics expert to be hired?
How was the case finally overturned? What evidence was given?
How do you feel after seeing Hinton’s struggle with the criminal justice system? If you could speak with anyone interviewed in the video, what are two questions you would ask them?
6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Read the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution above and determine which of the five reasons from the second question above were unconstitutional. ("What were the five reasons given by the white police officer that guaranteed Mr. Hinton’s supposed guilt?")
Going Deeper
Going Deeper
Read this article and answer the following questions.
What are the mistakes in the case against Mr. Hinton?
What are your thoughts about the death penalty after reading this article?
Study the 3 charts below and answer the following questions.
What do you notice about the racial differences of incarceration in the United States?
What do you think can be done to change these racial disparities and to keep cases like that of Mr. Hinton from happening?
Wrap Up
Wrap Up
What's the most interesting thing you learned from this lesson?
Adapted from: PBS. “Lesson Plan: Life after Wrongful Conviction | Lesson Plan.” PBS NewsHour Extra, PBS, 22 Dec. 2020, www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/lesson-plan-life-after-wrongful-conviction.
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