Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Many critics of the death penalty argue that it is unconstitutional because it violates the 8th Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual" punishments. What is the definition of "cruel and unusual"? Is the death penalty “cruel and unusual” and therefore unconstitutional? Explain your position.

Scenario

On February 1, 2000 the governor of Illinois, George Ryan, declared a “moratorium,” or a temporary ban, on the death penalty. He did this because thirteen of the sixty-five people on death row in Illinois had their sentences overturned when compelling evidence found that they were innocent. College students at Northwestern University (who are only a few years older than you!) found evidence that contributed to nine of these thirteen sentence reversals. The new governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich must now decide on whether to continue the moratorium or return the policy defined by the Illinois Constitution and statutory law.

You are a senior advisor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He has assigned you the task of reviewing the decision of his predecessor, George Ryan, regarding the granting of blanket clemency for those receiving the death penalty. You are to write a recommendation on either continuing the ban on the death penalty or returning to the previous policy. Your decision must be based on the Constitutional issues involved, the morality of the death penalty, and the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent.

Final Product: You will submit a short paper containing your recommendation, and the rationale for that decision. The paper should be approximately two pages, double-spaced and in essay form.

Foundation Questions

1. What is the Bill of Rights? Which amendment addresses cruel and unusual punishment?

2. How many states currently employ the death penalty? How many are considering execution bans?

3. How many nations currently have the death penalty? How does the U.S. policy compare to the policies of Western European nations and Canada?

4. What methods are currently used to carry out the death penalty? Describe each.

6. What effect did Northwestern University’s Center on Unlawful Convictions on the current state of the death penalty in Illinois?

Listen to actor Scott Winters, who plays a death row inmate on the hit HBO series "Oz," for his take on the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

		Grading Criteria
	10 Pts	8 Pts	6 Pts	4 Pts
CONTENT	Information meets the goals of the stated project and is accurate with no factual errors.	Information meets most of the goals and might contain a few minor errors. Might contain extra material	Information meets a few of the goals and is somewhat accurate. Contains minor errors, contains extra material	Answers one or no questions. May contain major as well as minor errors in content.
ORGANIZATION	Well organized; is presented in a logical and clear manner	Most material is basically logical in format and easy to understand	Materials are somewhat organized but organization is not real logical	Poorly written organization with little or no logic. Paper is confusing
PROOFREAD	No spelling or grammatical errors, word usage is appropriate	Few errors in spelling or grammar, few or no inappropriate word usage	Many repeat errors	Many errors which might interfere with clarity of paper
CRITICAL THINKING	Demonstrates ability to compare alternative points of view, analyzes and reports in decision-making process and supports with evidence	Compares points of view and presents limited analysis in decision-making process, supports with evidence	Compares points of view with no analysis but supports with evidence	Little or no comparison of alternate points of view, little or no analysis in decision-making process, no support of evidence
Total _____/40

The Death Penalty...cruel and unusual punishment?

Scenario

Foundation Questions