Paper instructions: In democratic societies, the public trial is a pillar of the democratic principle of “transparency.”
Although most trials are public, only some become “popular.” Reasons for their ‘popularity’ are
varied, but generally we have argued in the course that popular trials engage the public’s sense of
morality and/or imagination. What engages is not simply the legal issues of a case, but the deeper
symbolic or ideological issues that permeate, and are often positioned adversarially in, a popular
trial. For your paper, you are going to be researching and writing on the trial of Clara Ford.
Clara Ford was charged in the 1894 shooting death of Frank Westwood. An extremely popular
(and Canadian) trial followed her charge. In your paper, you are to identify and critically
discuss the symbolic issues of this case that engaged the public’s sense of morality and/or
imagination. The Clara Ford trial was a site and an occasion for the dramatization of social
norms. Discuss this. As we have seen in this course, often there are “competing” or adversarial
norms in conflict in a popular trial. Insofar as the trial will have legal issues at stake, the popular
trial has other social concerns that are in public contest. Discuss this. Lastly, as we have seen, the
popular trial is a forum of social spectacle, it is a site of ideological contestation.
Let’s start
210 specialists online
Media plays an
important part in this contest as they disseminate or broadcast aspects of the trial or of the
controversies surrounding the trial. Discuss this in your paper. Before the conclusion of your paper, please include a “whats the logical end of your thinking” section. This means to explain how you would solve the problem or recommend a legal solution etc. This should not exceed a paragraph in the grand scheme of things.
Extra instructions to follow:
Must be in Times New Roman, 12 pt font.
Must use 3 academic sources. While you may use newspaper or
magazine articles to support your arguments, they are NOT counted as academic sources.
