CMS150 - Winter 2001

Trials of Conscience: Litigation

and the Rhetoric of Identity

You can obtain a clean text of the case analysis form at this link.

The Parties to the Litigation

1. How many trials do the primary sources refer to?
2. Who is the person(s) bringing the accusation?

    

3. Does this person have an affiliation with a social institution (e.g., a prosecutor who is an officer of the government) or does this person act as a private citizen?

    

4. How would you characterize the social, economic and/or political identity of the accusor?

    

5. Who is the person accused?

    

6. Does this person have an affiliation with a social institution (e.g., a minister of government) or does this person act as a private citizen?

    

7. How would you characterize the social, economic and/or political identity of the person accused?

    

The Tribunal

1. In what forum is the accusation raised? (e.g., a court, a legislative hearing).

    

2. What is the jurisdictional authority of the forum in which the accusation is raised? (e.g., a court and jury in an American civil trial cannot impose jail sentences on the defendant; some criminal courts in America cannot impose jail sentences of more than a year on defendants; ecclesiastical courts in the Middle Ages did not have the authority to hear charges of treason against the ruler of the country in which they were located; conversely, the criminal courts in those countries did not have the authority to hear criminal charges against persons who had taken holy orders).

    

3. What persons will evaluate the accusation? (e.g. a jury, a minister of state).

    

4. Is the person(s) evaluating the accusation affiliated in any way with the accusor?

    

5. How are the persons evaluating the accusation chosen?

    

6. How would you characterize the social, economic and/or political identity of the persons who evaluate the accusation?

    

7. Are the identities of the evaluators of the accusation comparable to those of the person bringing the accusation?

    

8. Are the identities of the evaluators of the accusation comparable to those of the person accused?

    

The Charge(s)

1. What is the law (or laws) that the person accused is claimed to have violated?

    

2. Is the law (or laws) written or part of an oral or common law tradition?

    

3. What is the origin of the law (or laws) (e.g., promulgated by a legislative body, an eccesiastical authority, developed by courts as part of the common law).

    

4. Can you briefly state or summarize the law and charge?

    

5. What conduct by the accused was alleged to have violated the law?

    

6. Do the sources reveal conduct by the accused that may have motivated the charges, but which, in of themselves, could not support accusations of wrongdoing or criminal behavior?