Death Penalty Arguments

Today we will examine the four main arguments for and against the death penalty. Each student will be assigned an argument OR a rebuttal to an argument. Find your assigned argument in the attached document and then fill out the corresponding box in the chart for it. You will then meet with others to hear their argument and explain your own. You should take notes and keep track of the arguments in the chart.

Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty

Arguments Note Taking Chart

Deterrence Sophie Megan Kyle	Rebuttal to Deterrence Kelley Eric Justin	Retribution Brett Annabel Dylan	Rebuttal to Retribution Joe Zach	Innocence Julian Freddy
Rebuttal to Innocence Ethan Myles	Arbritrariness Josie Kristen	Rebuttal to Arbitrariness Emma Katie

Introduction to the Death Penalty

As we head into our unit on the Death Penalty, we need to examine its current status and how it operates. Please follow the steps below and in complete sentences, answer the questions for each response and post your responses to turnitin.com. T Please title it Death Penalty Intro Information. Your responses should correspond to the individual bullet points. Make sure you are specific and detailed in your responses.  This must be complete and uploaded by the start of class on Thursday, December 7.

• Click on this document to read the former Illinois Capital Murder statute (focus on the factors listed under Sec. 9 (b). 
• RESPONSE-How many aggravating factors are listed that might have led to the death penalty?  What do you think of them? ? Should the crimes listed have death as a potential punishment? Why or why not? 
• Read about the STAGES in a death penalty case. Be sure you understand all of the different steps involved.  You need to read about all of the subtopics prior to clicking the arrow to move to the next stage (i.e. read about all of the steps in the pre-trial phase before moving on to the guilt phase) If the full text is not showing up in the interactive interface, click on this LINK to read the text without the graphics.
• RESPONSE-What aspects of the stages in a capital case are designed to protect the rights of the accused? Do you believe that this system is sufficient to guarantee that only the guilty are convicted?
• Read about the different METHODS of execution. Be sure to click on each.
• RESPONSE-Which of these (if any) are the most humane? Should any be considered “cruel and unusual” according to the 8th Amendment? If so which? Why?
• Read (or watch the video if you want to sign up for 60 Minutes all access) the story linked here: The Execution of Joseph Wood. 
• RESPONSE-How does this story influence your thinking about the most popular current method of execution (or not)?
• Take a look at the current FACT SHEET put out by the Death Penalty Information Center. Focus on the tables listing Death Row Inmates by STATE and Executions by STATE.  
• RESPONSE-Which states have the most inmates on Death Row? Which states have no death penalty? Which state has the most inmates on death row? Can you hypothesize any reasons for the differences?  Now click on the murder rates on this MAP. Thinking about the tables from the fact sheet, can you make any conclusions by using both sets of data?  Then return to the FACT SHEET and look at the graph on Deterrence. Make sure that you can define deterrence and then decide if the conclusions from the graph match up with your own. Explain why it does or doesn't. Are you surprised by any of this data? Why or why not?
• On the FACT SHEET, look at the graphs that detail executions by race, race of victim, and death row inmates by race. Then, explore the demographic data here.   Make sure you click on the ethnicity and gender for both the number of inmates on death row and the number of executions. You should take notes as you explore. Consider:  Are there more blacks or whites on death row? Which state has the most women on death row? Are more men or women on death row? Why aren’t there any statistics for juveniles on death row? Are there differences in number of executions by ethnicity? Are there states where there are more blacks then whites on death row? Are there states where more blacks then whites are executed? 
• RESPONSE-What sorts of conclusions can you draw from this data? What does the state by state data tell us about how the death penalty is used? What regional or other trends do you see? What might this data tell us about issues of equality, arbitrariness,and justice?
• Look at the rest of the updated FACT SHEET.   
• RESPONSE-What does this data say about the economics of the death penalty? What does the data say about the influence of race on the death penalty? What does the data say about public opinion for the death penalty? What does the data say about innocence?  About deterrence?  Looking at the information overall, what point of view would you say that the Death Penalty Information center has? Is it convincing? Why or why not? What additional information would you like to know?