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By Stevie Askew MAY 2017

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In this political drama,  the American president, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and everyone else in the line for presidency except for the Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Tom Kirkman, are all killed in an explosion at Capital Hill on the day of a State of Union address. Tom is immediately named the Designated Survivor and is sworn it to presidency. However, the complicated events and conspiracies that unfold as the season goes on  helps bring to question why Tom was the survivor.

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Inaccuracy #1:The Designated Survivor Is Chosen Randomly (S1 E1)

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Inaccuracy #1:The Designated Survivor Is Chosen Randomly (S1 E1)

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In season 1 episode 1 Designated Survivor, Tom Kirkman was named the designated survivor, but this is sort of misleading. The Designated Survivor is usually an eligible (35 years old, natural citizen, etc.) cabinet member who would be in line for presidency. It may be true that Tom was the Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, but he technically was no longer in the running for presidency. Before the State of Union address the president spoke to Kirkman and let him know that he was being given a job as Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (which was technically his pink slip)! Kirkman was technically no longer in line for presidency, therefore inaccurately labeled the designated survivor.

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Inaccuracy #2:There’s One Aide Who Acts as the President’s Gatekeeper

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Inaccuracy #2:There’s One Aide Who Acts as the President’s Gatekeeper

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Similar to the media's role as gatekeeper to the public, the president also has people who have the same influence on him. However in Designated Survivor, the Tom Kirkman only has one gatekeeper, Aaron Shore, who is formerly known as the Chief of Staff. While this seems somewhat accurate, The president usually has a host of advisers, chiefs of staff, etc. that all play as gatekeeper to the sitting president.

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Inaccuracy #3: A State is allowed to imprison its own citizens without reason.~Internment (S1 E2)

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Inaccuracy #3: A State is allowed to imprison its own citizens without reason.~Internment (S1 E2)

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The problem of racial profiling expands from the personal to the systemic as Governor John Royce of Michigan deploys officers to round up Muslims in this episode of Designated Survivor. Michigan does procedures similar to the Holocaust and Japanese internment during the Cold War. While it may seem like this could be legal considering America's past, the 6th amendment and due process are set in place to protect citizen from the government in times like this. The 6th amendment gives all citizens the right to a speedy trial, fair trial,  a state appointed attorney (if needed), etc. to ensure a fair process under law. Also the Due Process clause of Amendment 4 prevents state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The federal government however could be able to arrest citizens without trial using the Bill of attainder.

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Inaccuracy #4: State government can put limits on the First Amendment.

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Inaccuracy #4: State government can put limits on the First Amendment.

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In this episode, Michigan's Governor was back to arresting Muslims and had instituted a curfew and ban on gatherings. This is a clear infringement on the first amendment right to freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and the fourteenth amendment equal protection clause. The equal protection clause, that was established during reconstruction, aimed to ensure the constitution continued to protect all citizens regardless of race, religion, etc. In reality, the State of Michigan is unable to  set curfews or any restriction that discriminate based on race, gender, religion, etc.

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Law & Order Special Victims Unit Political Inaccuracies

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Law & Order Special Victims Unit Political Inaccuracies

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By Stevie Askew MAY 2017

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In this episode, Michigan's governor used the national guard to prevent federal officials from coming in to talk about issues. Since the national guard is under both federal and state government's power, the federal government can technically nationalize the National Guard to be under only their control. This is an example of dual federalism where the federal and state government shares powers. Nationalizing the National Guard is similar to Eisenhower's choice to due so in the case where Alabama was refusing to enforce the ruling found in Brown v. Board of Education that said to integrate schools.

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Inaccuracy #6: Trials start immediately following the arrest of a suspect.

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Inaccuracy #6: Trials start immediately following the arrest of a suspect.

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In the criminal drama, each episode investigate and successfully tries a case. While it's very exciting to watch, criminal trials can take months or years to even get started, led alone resolved. This is similar to the misconception that the Supreme Court hears most cases that are appealed. The Court receives approximately 7,000-8,000 petitions for a writ of certiorari each Term.  The Court grants and hears oral argument in about 80 cases. In reality, SCOTUS hears around 1% of the cases that are appealed to them.These cases certainly take longer than a week to get through.

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Inaccuracy #7: Underage Suspects can not be questioned without their parent's consent. (S18, E11)

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Inaccuracy #7: Underage Suspects can not be questioned without their parent's consent. (S18, E11)

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This is a common misconception in real-life cases , as well as criminal drama stories. Children, because of their relative immaturity and lack of experience, children "cannot be viewed simply as miniature adults". In this episode, a 13 year old was being arrested for the sexual assault and (in turn) murder of his teammate. The child was in the hospital for injuries that led detectives to suspect the child was being abused, so Detective Benson questioned him on the matter. Moments later, the child's allegedly abusive father barged in and let the detectives know they were not allowed to question the child without him present. Unlike stated above, police can question minors (whether they are victims or suspects) without their parents consent. They also do not have to make sure the parents are present or inform the parents that the child is being questioned, unless they are physically arresting the child. While the police have few obligations in reference to questioning a child, there have been many successful case where child defendants have had some evidence thrown out due to their temporary incompetency.

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Inaccuracy #8: You can't deport witnesses

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Inaccuracy #8: You can't deport witnesses

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In this season final of Law & Order SVU, the team was investigating a double rape, double homicide, quadruple kidnapping, hate crime, and robbery all in one. The victims, who were Muslim, were targeted because of their religion in this case that put the entire city of New York on edge. The key witness in this case, who happened to be undocumented, was promised by the NYPD that he would not be deported because of his vital roll in their case. Unfortunately, the witness was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported to Syria. The detectives began to argue with agents on why they were arresting a non-violent immigrant to which the officer responded "it's our job". This case is a major example of how criminal shows put certain departments, like Special Victims, on such a high pedestal that they really believe they are the highest level of governments. State governments or department can not issue visas or green cards to any one. Green cards are formerly issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

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Inaccuracy #9: Good Lawyering or Pergury

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Inaccuracy #9: Good Lawyering or Pergury

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In the same case explained above, due to the deportation of one key witness and the murder of another, the team was left with little evidence to surely prove two attackers were at the crime scene  instead of at their homes. One of the victims came to the detectives claiming that she could now identify the two attackers. This was obviously a lie, which Detective Benson pointed out, but the State's attorney still allowed the victim to testify. While testifying the victim claimed that she had made this ID earlier in the investigation with Detective Benson. Of course Benson was then forced to testify on whether or not the victim had done this identification before a certain event happened. Not only her boss, but also the state's attorney implied that Benson should lie to help the testimony be valid. This would not and should not happen in real life because perjury is a federal offence that can not only ruin this case, but also force everyone involved to lose their jobs. In many popular criminal dramas they depict this sort of good lawyer breaking the law for the sake of justice. Perjury is such a  serious crime because it infringes on the 6th amendment right of a fair trial. While this is touching, don't try this at home you will probably go to jail for perjury.

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By Stevie Askew May 2017

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In this episode, Alicia raps up a case with a banking company over their alleged violation of some SEC rules. SEC stands for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and they aim to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. All of the SEC laws have to do with money and economics, but this case in particular was won on the grounds that since the bank's CEO had not disclosed that he had cancer. While it is true that the SEC does set laws to regulate banks and other economic stuff, the supposed rule Alicia had won the case on, regarding the CEO's health, did not exist and if it had that would bring into question rights to privacy.

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Designated Survivor
1) When you are creating your scripts are there any restriction you all have had in terms of elections?
2) Considering your show was first aired right after the 2016 presidential inauguration, what type of positive or negative feedback have you all received? Did you expect this reaction?
3)Have you all ever had to extensive research on the American political system for aspects of your storyline, or do you function off of basic knowledge?
4)Can you describe the motive behind each character's political ideology? Is Kirkman really an independent?
5)What is the reasoning behind SVU's resent use of real life problems or scandals in their stories?

Law & Order: Special Victims Union
1) Do you believes this section of Law & Order's success has positively attributed to the fight against sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.?
2) Have you all ever considered using your new found popularity to inform and help with the fight against sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.?
3)What was the motive behind creating a Law & Order series on sexually based offences?

The Good Wife
1)Have you ever come into the conflict of having to make up laws for the sake of your story line?
2)Have you all ever considered having parts of your story be related to current events?