Susan W. Phelps

Binghamton High School

Binghamton, New York

phelpss@bcsdgw.stier.org

Introduction:

The United States, China the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iran surpass the rest of the world in imposing the death penalty for capital crimes. Since 1990, thirty nations have abolished this practice which is increasingly viewed in the global community as cruel and unusual punishment. As DNA testing has developed for use as evidence in criminal cases, it has increasingly been used to prove that some of those on Death Row in the U.S. are indeed innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Evidence is mounting to prove that innocent individuals have been executed in our country. In 2000, CNN reported that the Governor Ryan in the State of Illinois was imposing a moratorium on executions following the exoneration of thirteen death row inmates.

Driving home from school one day, you catch a story on NPR about four African- American teens who were convicted in 1986 of the rape and murder of a young medical student. As you listen, you learn that in 2001 the four had their convictions overturned in a strange twist of events when DNA evidence came to the surface that proved them to be not guilty. The story interests you and you start asking yourself how often the U.S. judicial system errors and someone on death row is unjustly executed.

Your interest then goes beyond today and you think about famous Americans who were executed in the past. Were their punishments just or were they really innocent?

Task:

Your task is to become more well informed about the death penalty as it is currently practiced in the United States, determine whether abuse exists and apply that knowledge to an evaluation of American history.

You will:

• Learn more about the death penalty and how widespread the abuse of it is within our judicial system.
• Write a position paper in which you give an informed view about what should be done about the problem of executing innocent individuals in the U.S. (To help you do this, you will use a Public Policy worksheet.)
• Apply your research to U.S. History and Gvt. by investigating an infamous case from America’s past, John Brown, Bruno Hauptmann, Sacco and Vanzetti and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• As a group, you will present a discussion of one of the above cases and include your opinion of whether justice or injustice was served.

Process:

Step 1: You will be assigned to groups of 3 or 4 students and discuss what you know about the death penalty.

Step 2: On your own, log on to the internet and investigate current state laws in the U.S. regarding the practice of the death penalty. Do all states have the death penalty? Has the death penalty always existed in American history? Do some states carry out more executions than others? What is the most common form of execution? What kinds of crimes are death penalty crimes? You will also read about some real individuals who have been executed in the U.S.

Step 3: Now you will investigate whether any Americans on Death Row in the U.S. have been exonerated before their executions and if any have been determined to be not guilty after they were executed. Do you believe that the evidence is significant enough to indicate that this is a problem in the U.S.?

Step 4: Use the Public Policy Analyst to help you research the information necessary for the position paper you will write.

A.) Defining the Social Problem

B.) Gathering the Evidence

C.) Identifying the Cause of the Problem

D.) Evaluating Existing Policies

E.) Developing Public Policy Solutions

F.) Selecting the Best Solution

Step 5 : Write a 3-4 page position paper that includes a discussion of why you think this is a social problem, what evidence shows that it is a problem, what the cause of the problem might be and what the best solution is in your view to this problem. You should include any information you can find about states that have incorporated these solutions to address this issue. Be sure to properly cite the source of your information.

Step 6: In groups of 3 or 4 choose one of the following individuals listed in the Task description.

Research the historical background of the case including the crime each person was accused of committing, what kind of trial took place, the evidence that was presented and opinions of the time about whether justice was applied.

Step 7: Your group will give a 15 minute presentation on your findings to the class and include an educated opinion about whether justice was served in each case.

Step 8: The class will vote that they agree or disagree with your evaluation of the specific case that you researched and presented to them.

Resources: Use the following websites to find information that will enable you to complete the assigned tasks.

History of the Death Penalty

American Civil Liberties Union

Inmates Walk Free

Pro Death Penalty Links

The Constitution and the Death Penalty

Last Statements of the Executed in Texas

New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty

Scott Peterson Sentenced to Death for Killing Pregnant Wife

The Innocence Project

Death Row Inmates by State and Size of Death Row by Year

The Bruno Hauptmann (Lindbergh Kidnapping) Trial

The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

John Brown's Holy War

The Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

Race and the Death Penalty

Jesse Jackson Jr. on the Death Penalty

Pro Capital Punishment Page

Evaluation:

Rubric on Research Paper

CATEGORY	4 Excellent	3 Good	2 Fair	1 Poor
Researching the Death Penalty	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Discussed existence of Death Penalty as a Social Problem	Clear, concise, well researched discussion that supports or disputes the existence of problems relating to the unjust execution of prisoners on death row.	Some supporting evidence given to support the writer's view re' this as a possible social problem.	Very little evidence given to support he writer's view.	No evidence given to support the writer's view &/or no opinion given re' whether this is a social problem.
Specific research that relates to your thesis.	Thorough discussion of what the causes might be of this issue as a social problem or reasons that it is not. Excellent references.	A good discussion, but could include more information. References are limited.	A fair discussion; needs significant improvement.	Little or no discussion given and one or no references given.
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Research on the Response of the States	Thorough discussion of state response with references.	Some discussion of state response with some references.	Little discussion of the state response with few references.	No discussion of state response with no references

Rubric for Presentation on an Important Historic Figure

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Time-Limit	Presentation is 12-15 minutes long.	Presention is 10-12 minutes long.	Presentation is 8-10 minutes long.	Presentation is less than 8 minutes OR more than 15 minutes.
Speaks Clearly	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, and mispronounces no words.	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, but mispronounces one word.	Speaks clearly and distinctly most ( 94-85%) of the time. Mispronounces no more than one word.	Often mumbles or can not be understood OR mispronounces more than one word.
Content	Shows a full understanding of the topic. Excellent evidence is presented.	Shows a good understanding of the topic. Significant evidence is presented.	Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic.Adequate evidence is presented.	Does not seem to understand the topic very well.Little or not evidence presented
Stays on Topic	Stays on topic all (100%) of the time.	Stays on topic most (99-90%) of the time.	Stays on topic some (89%-75%) of the time.	It was hard to tell what the topic was.
Collaboration with Peers	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Tries to keep people working well together.	Usually listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Does not cause "waves" in the group.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Often is not a good team member.
Posture and Eye Contact	Stands up straight, looks relaxed and confident. Establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the presentation.	Stands up straight and establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the presentation.	Sometimes stands up straight and establishes eye contact.	Slouches and/or does not look at people during the presentation.

New York State Learning Standards:

Social Studies

Standard 1:   History of the United States and New York

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Standard 5:   Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

English Language Arts

Standard 1:   Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3:   Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4:   Language for Social Interaction

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Conclusion:

From this WebQuest you should have learned a great deal about the death penalty as it has been practiced in the past and as it is currently being practiced. In addition, you should have drawn some conclusions about the justice of the practice based on the evidence you found.