Activity 2C: Punishment and Sentencing
Changing Images of Criminal Punishment (slideshow)
- The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Web site contains slideshows and images of punishments administered in colonial times, which may be used to prompt students’ thinking about how goals and methods for punishment may vary.
Activity 2D: Capital Punishment and Justice
Anti-Death Penalty Resources
- The American Civil Liberties Union states its position here in The Case Against the Death Penalty.
- The American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project, established in 2001, serves as the ABA’s voice and resource in pursuit of a nationwide moratorium “unless and until problems within the administration of capital punishment are rectified.”
- Fighting Capital Punishment. CBS News, on January 6, 2007, presents a case in which parents of a murdered child fight capital punishment. (2-minute video)
- “The Death Penalty Resource Guide.” Amnesty International USA Human Rights Education Program.
- “Jeremy Irons Talks About the Death Penalty.” Human TV. (3:24 minutes)
Pro-Death Penalty Resources
- Pro-deathpenalty.com is a resource for pro-death penalty information and resources. Includes case information on upcoming executions, a collection of death penalty links, and current news stories.
- Arguments for the Death Penalty is a video interview with Mike Bradbury, Former Ventura County DA.
Death Penalty Data
- The Death Penalty Information Center regularly updates death penalty data by state here.
- Amnesty International gives global data on the death penalty.
Interactive Map with Capital Punishment Data
- Execution and Death Row Inmates by State, a part of a Death Penalty Curricula for High School. Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab and Death Penalty Information Center.
Other Death Penalty Resources
- “The Death Penalty on Trial.” (29 minutes) Amicus. Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010. Two barristers from the United Kingdom put the American death penalty on trial in a mock trial hosted by a legal charity. A good outline of the arguments for and against capital punishment.
- The Juvenile Death Penalty, by Michelle Parrini, is a Is a two-day unit on the juvenile death penalty with a focus on the Simmons v. Roper case.
Extension: What Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
- Death Penalty Curricula for High School. Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab and Death Penalty Information Center. Two 10-day units on the death penalty for high school students using resources on an interactive website. The site includes interactive maps with state and international data, discussion questions, and activities designed for high school students, including a juror questionnaire.
Activity 2E: Finalizing the Theory of the Case
Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Giving and Receiving Feedback Guidelines introduced in Unit 2: The Legal System in Action.