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Library: Information Literacy: Projects: Death Penalty

Introduction: Timothy Hall in Magill's Legal Guide opens discussion of the death penalty with: “The ultimate punishment a state can impose on a convicted criminal, the death penalty, tests a society’s need for safety and retribution against its commitment to human decency.” (Hall 249)

Many debates exist concerning the issue of capital punishment and the death penalty. This research assignment looks at one of the debates, whether society should “tolerate the execution of anyone whose crime is the product of mental illness.” (Hall 252)

Task:

Compile a two to three page outline on this topic. Use Powerpoint for your presentation, and print out a copy in Outline format.

Give a 5-minute oral presentation to the class focusing on one of the Supreme Court decisions OR one of the articles you find. Your presentation should describe something interesting you learned about this topic.

Provide a “Works Cited” page listing the resources you used for the assignment.

Process: Your outline should address the following:

I.  Define

a.      Capital Punishment

b.      Mitigating circumstances or mitigating evidence

II. Look up one of the U.S. Supreme Court Decisions listed under Resources

a.      In your own words, write a summary (outline format) of what the appeal involved and the courts finding.

b.      Using one of the databases, either ProQuest Newspapers or Newsbank, find a news story about the decision and summarize (outline – bulleted points.) Include this in your works cited list.

III. Write a summary (outline format) expressing your views on this issue. Provide supporting argument(s) found from books in our library using the resources listed below. Include parenthetical citations from the sources used.

IV. Write a description about the process of your research. What problems did you encounter? What was the best resource you found? Was the Internet a good resource to use for this assignment? Did your opinion change regarding the death penalty for the mentally ill as you read through material you found?

V.  Properly cite sources in the text of your report. In addition, include a works cited page in proper MLA (Modern Language Association of America) citation format of at least: (may include more)

a.      One Dictionary

b.      One book

c.      One periodical article

d.      One Websites with links or information on Capital Punishment

e.      One Supreme Court Decision

(Your works may come from Resources)

Evaluation Rubric

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Resources:

Definitions:

Garner, Bryan A., ed. Black’s Law Dictionary. St. Paul: West Group, 2004.

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. Vol. 12, St.Paul: West Group, 2004.

U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: (look at one)

Ford v. Wainwright, 91 L Ed 2d 335 (1986).

Penry v. Lynaugh, 106 L Ed 2d 256 (1989).

Penry v. Johnson, 150 L Ed 2d 9 (2001).

Atkins v. Virginia, 153 L Ed 2d 335 (2002).

Sources to find U.S. Supreme Court Decisions:

On the Web:

Legal Information Institute

Findlaw Supreme Court Opinions 1893-present

On the shelves:

Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Charlottesville , VA : Matthew Bender Co.

Access a decision by term year. This set provides summaries of Supreme Court decisions and may be easier to read than the official U.S. Supreme Court decision. (see below)

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition, Second Series, Charlottesville, VA: Matthew Bender Co.

Book Resources : (use LOGIN )

American Jurisprudence 2d. St. Paul: West Group. (a legal encyclopedia)

Hall, Timothy L., ed. Magill’s Legal Guide. Hackensack, NJ: Salem Press, 2000.

Rein, Mei Ling. Capital Punishment Cruel and Unusual? New York: Gale, 2006.

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Websites:

Death Penalty Information Center: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/– view The Issues

Death Penalty Links http://www.derechos.org/dp/

Periodical article: (use EBSCO or other database from the Online Resources page and connect through the portal)

“Rethinking the Death Penalty.” Nation 22 July 2002: 14+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Gloucester County Coll. Lib., Sewell. 21 Aug. 2002 <http://www.epnet.com>.

Conclusion: By completing this project you will gain valuable experience searching for information using our Web Catalog, LOGIN, periodical databases from EBSCO and VALE, and the Web itself.

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Rev 1/2008