THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN CITIZENSHIP

 The legendary Sam Houston was a force to be reckoned with during American expansion in the West during the first half of the 19^th century- governor of Tennessee, resident of the Cherokee Nation, commander of the Texas army for independence from Mexico, president of the Republic of Texas, U.S. Senator from Texas, and finally, governor of Texas. In 1861, Houston opposed the succession of his state from the Federal Union to join the Confederacy and therefore, was removed from office and he died a few years later.

About a year before his ouster from the statehouse in Austin, the aged Governor and Mrs. Houston announced the birth of their seventh and last child- a boy they named Temple. Orphaned by his seventh birthday, Temple Houston lived with relatives and worked odd jobs. He then was appointed as a page in the U.S, Senate and after three years returned to Texas to enroll in the new agricultural and mechanical college (later named Texas A & M). Houston transferred to Baylor University where he studied law and philosophy and gained proficiencies in the Bible and classical literature. A brief stint in a law office served him well in gaining a law license making Houston the youngest attorney in Texas. He served as a district attorney in Brazoria County and as a member of the state legislature, but the bulk of Houston’s time was spent as a defense attorney in the frontier of the Texas Panhandle counties.

In 1894, Houston moved with his family to the town of Woodward in the newly formed Oklahoma Territory where he opened his law practice. A story is told about Houston meeting with a client in the county jail. His client was an uneducated cowboy accused of stealing horses, a serious offense which could get the cowhand the noose if found guilty. So, Houston wanted to insure that his client understood the legal process he was facing.

Houston explained, “You will tried by a court with a judge and a jury of your peers.” “What are peers?”  the cowboy asked. Houston answered, “Peers are people just like you.” To which the cowboy thundered, “I don’t want to be tried by a bunch of horse thieves!”

I do not have the record whether this literal-thinking cowboy was found guilty or innocent, or even if this story is true. But I do know that trail by jury is one of our basic constitutional rights as citizens with peers being embers of the community in which the court has jurisdiction. But what about non-citizens? This question forms the basis of our first thought experiment.

Non-citizens legally voting in the United States is already a reality. Four towns in Maryland and seven towns in Vermont grant this franchise but only in town matters, not in county, state, and federal elections. I am not sure if such voting is permitted in school, water, fire, and related special districts which may overlap with these towns and future municipalities allowing non-citizens to vote. For the sake of the thought experiments, I will side the affirmative.

Thought Experiment #1-

Your town allows non-citizens to vote and, a state judge has ruled that non-citizens can also serve on juries in towns that permit them to vote. A non-citizen woman has been accused of robbery and faces a jury trial. Her attorney has filed a pre-trial motion that since a jury must be composed of the defendant’s peers, the defendant requests that her jury be selected entirely upon the jurors’ non-citizenship status.

What questions and commentary can you bring to this thought experiment?

Thought Experiment #2-

An insurance agent in your town has been indicted for fraud against three town residents, all of whom are non-citizens. The agent’s attorney also files a pre-trial motion stating that in light of the precedent set in the case involving our first thought experiment that a non-citizens’ jury peers must also be non-citizens, then her client’s civil rights will be violated unless she (the client) has a jury composed of entirely of citizens like herself.

What questions and commentary can you bring to this thought experiment?

 

 

Extended Thought Experiment-

A state judge has also ruled that since 95 per cent of the non-citizens living in the local school district live in your town all non-citizens residing in the school district may vote also in school board and bond elections. The school district is losing money because state aid has been cut. The district has two important programs- advanced college ready courses for students who desired to be challenged and mentoring and classroom assistance for at-risk students. The district cannot keep both programs; one will need to be eliminated. An election is held and one program is kept with a victory margin of 12 votes out of 776 cast.

What other issues besides citizenship, voting, and juries come to mind as you deal with this thought experiment?

ARE YOU A SCHOOLER OR LEARNER?

 When I was a middle school teacher, I was a “jack-of-all-trades" as I taught social studies, English, and computers. Even though my preferred subject was social studies, I had fun with the other subjects. In one of my English classes, one student was having a children's book published about her grandparents during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As a sixth grader, she was the youngest author published by National Geographic. Years later when I contacted her parents, I discovered that Kate was living in New York City working in book publishing. 

It was in my computer classes that I had to be my most inventive. The students were provided with old computers, even by 1990s standards. Yet I was able to send them their daily instructions through the system and receive their completed assignments back through the system ready to be printed. Instead of teaching them computer mechanics, I provided them with news and magazine journals for the students to analyze and draw conclusions. I remember very vividly one assignment regarding Thomas Jefferson. After some readings about him, the students had to “temporarily: decide whether Jefferson was a racist and provide their reasonings. One white student wrote that he was based upon today's standards while one Black student submitted that he was not based upon the culture of his day.  

Internet access at the school was nonexistent for the students. So, a tech-savvy math teacher and I jerry-rigged a computer featuring my own personal AOL account. I assigned students in teams of three access to the machine to complete assignments. That worked well except when my son at home was on the internet or when the students accidently came across a porn site. And one day one student sent me a note saying that my internet assignments “sucked.” In response, I gave him the responsibility of revising the assignments. He did and his revisions were highly successful, far better than my original set. 

I assembled a team of techy students, and we published a school zine on the internet called “Cyber Tiger” (the tiger was our school’s mascot). Our first issue detailed the results of a student survey on what ten books every student should read before graduating high school. The winners- the Bible and various plays of Shakespeare! (Okay, a play is not a book but to a middle schooler it might as well be a book.) 

One weekend at a local bookstore I found and purchased a book on the philosophy of computer learning. I do not recall the book's title or author, but I do remember one of its theses. All of us are either primarily Schoolers or Learners.  

A Schooler is a person who is successful in school, absorbs all the instruction given, and then after receiving her degree, stops learning about the discipline and craft in which she had invested so much. I read an article many years that one study showed that most pastors stop reading about ministry practice and theological currents within five years after seminary graduation. For most Schoolers, school is a ticket to be punched so they can get on with their lives. 

A Learner, in contrast, may or may not be successful in formal educational settings yet find ways to learn often in unorthodox ways. Relating back to that “computer” book I purchased, computers, according to another one of its theses, were going to become machines for learning soon, primarily for the Learners among us. Within a few years long-distance learning became a tool for adult Learners and now virtual learning has become a stable for high school students and younger. 

I am both a Schooler and a Learner. School has been an important piece of my life, both professionally and as a youngster, and I have the degrees on my wall to showcase my love for schooling. And then I am also into informal learning from writing blog posts like this one to designing my own learning projects to becoming the first ever visiting fellow at a local theological seminary to completing online noncredit liberal arts courses from a small Michigan college.  

My wife likes to joke that whether I am in a classroom or on a computer I search for ways to become the ‘teacher’s pet. With a smile I acknowledge her observation because I take my learning seriously. Now, I ask you seriously once again, Thus, in conclusion, are you A Schooler or a Learner (or both)?