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Everyone’s A Criminal

May 8, 2020 | Single Videos, Teacher's Guide Available, Kahoot!

Overview
Did you break any laws today? How would you know? America now has over 300,000 federal laws--and that doesn’t include state laws. In this video, John Stossel and Rafael Mangual discuss overcriminalization and how more laws creates more criminals out of ordinary Americans.

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Lesson Insights

Grade level and subjects
• Recommended for grades 6-12
• Subjects: Government
• Works in Classroom, Hybrid, and Homeschool settings

What students will learn
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
• explain the concept of overcriminalization;
• identify laws that represent overcriminalization;
• discuss some reasons for overcriminalization;
• summarize the consequences of overcriminalization including social and economic costs, and the impact on relationships between people and between people and their government; and
• propose solutions to the problems of overcriminalization.

Key concepts and terms covered
Overcriminalization, Federal Crimes, and State Crimes.

Sample discussion questions
• Why are some actions that are against the law?
• Why do we have police?
• In the video, we heard about Tammy Hedges, who sheltered animals during a hurricane to keep them from drowning. She was charged with a misdemeanor for practicing or attempting veterinary medicine without a license. The prosecutor said she put those animals at risk. Didn’t the hurricane do that?
• How is our justice system harmed by overcriminalization?
• How would any of us go about fighting overcriminalization?

What’s in the free teacher’s guide
This printable 17-page Teacher's Guide includes a lesson description, learning objectives, key vocabulary, a fill-in viewing guide with answer key, discussion and analysis questions, and classroom activities.

Standards alignment
Aligned to state standards — use the SITC Standards Tool to match this video to the standards in your state.