Discussion Assignment | Homework Help Websites
In this unit, you have learned about sentencing and verdicts. For this assignment, you will review three court cases and prepare a PowerPoint based on what you have learned. This assignment will also allow you to practice your research skills using the CSU Online Library to find specific court cases. This is an important skill that all criminal justice professionals and students should master.
First, locate the following three articles in the Nexi Uni Academic Universe database in the CSU Online Library. If you have never used this database, click here for a guide to help you with this.
Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991).
Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987).
South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989).
After reviewing the cases and the decisions, create a PowerPoint presentation as if you were giving a lecture to your criminal justice colleagues on possible legislation to override a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision defining the death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment. Use the cases as sources for your lecture.
At a minimum, your presentation should address the questions below.
- What are the procedures for sentencing? (Provide a brief explanation.)
- How are U.S. Supreme Court cases overridden?
- Should criminal justice support citizens’ rights to have an equal say when convincing juries/judges to use the death penalty?
- Should convicted defendants have a right to be heard by juries/judges regarding why they should not be sentenced to death?
- What is your personal opinion on the proposed legislation? (Note: You are not graded on your opinions—only your analysis and argument supporting your opinion.)
Your PowerPoint presentation must be a minimum of 10 slides in length, not counting the title and reference slides, and you must use at least four sources (the three cases listed above plus one additional source). Any information from these sources must be cited and referenced in APA format.
