Womens Roles

Introduction
As of right now, you are a Supreme Court Justice and you have been given the daunting case of juvenile justice concerning the death penalty. Now more than ever, young people are committing violent crimes. The case before you deals with whether or not we should execute children under the age of 18 who commit violent crimes. Keep in mind, the goal of juvenile justice is rehabilitation
The big question is this: Should the courts have the option to execute a juvenile for his or her violent crime?
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The Task

Your task as a justice is as follows:
• Analyze information on the death penalty,
• Evaluate the pros and cons of the death penalty for juveniles,
• Find and support evidence for your own conclusion,
• Take notes from websites to help form your opinion,
• Create your own list of pros and cons for the juvenile death penalty,
• Write an opinion (majority, concurring or dissenting) on the death penalty for juveniles,
• Find a separate article that supports your decision on this issue.
The final product is a list of pros and cons of the death penalty in juvenile cases as well as a typed 1-2 page opinion writing with supportive evidence (site your work).
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The Process

In order to achieve your goal, you are going to follow these steps:

1. Read an article on the background of juvenile justice and the death penalty: Death Penalty for Juveniles
2. Choose one of the following articles about the ruling in the Landmark Supreme Court case of Roper vs. Simmons (2005): Juvenile death penalty abolished | csmonitor.com or MSNBC - Opinions
3. Read the excerpts of four youths and their crimes and punishments: frontline: juvenile justice
4. Use this web site to learn about facts of the juvenile court system, the death penalty and preview each states current juvenile death row offenders: Death Penalty Information Center

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Evaluation
You will be evaluated on your notes, your lists of pros and cons and your opinion paper.
NOTES: The notes will out of 10 points and based upon each article having notes, dated viewing time of site and site being documented.
PROS and CONS: The pros and cons page will be worth 10 points as well. It will be based upon: clearly written, logical, reasonable and personal pros and cons
OPINION WRITING: FOCUS CONTENT ORGANIZATION STYLE CONVENTIONS
4 Sharp, distinct controlling point made about a single topic with evident awareness of task Substantial, specific, and/or illustrative content demonstrating strong development and sophisticated ideas Sophisticated arrangement of content with evident and/or subtle transitions Precise, illustrative use of a variety of words and sentence structures to create consistent writer’s voice and tone appropriate to audience Evident control of grammar, mechanics, usage and sentence formation
3 Apparent point made about a single topic with sufficient awareness of task Sufficiently developed content Functional arrangement of content that sustains a logical order Functional use of a variety of words and sentence structures that may or may not create writer’s voice and tone appropriate to audience Sufficient control of grammar, mechanics, usage and sentence formation
2 Evidence of a single controlling topic but no apparent point Significantly limited content with inadequate elaboration or explanation Confused or inconsistent arrangement of content with or without attempts at transition Generic word choice and limited control of sentence structures that inhibit voice and tone Significant weaknesses in control of grammar, mechanics, usage and sentence formation
1 Minimal evidence of controlling topic Superficial and/or severely limited content Minimal control of content arrangement Minimal control of word choice and sentence structures Severe weaknesses in control of grammar, mechanics, usage and sentence formation

SUPPORTING ARTICLE: The supporting article will be an article from an outside source who shares the same opinion as you. You need to give credit to where you got the article as well as identify the points in the article that clearly support your decision. (10 points)
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Conclusion

By the time you have finished reading about Juvenile Justice, you will be able to make a reasonable, supportive argument for how you feel about the death penalty for juveniles. The quest should stimulate thoughts and discussions on whether you think the death penalty for juveniles should be set in stone at 18 years of age or should be decided on a case by case basis. Either way, this debate is on going and frequently changes. Would your opinion be different if a violent crime committed by a juvenile happened to someone you know? At what age are we fully responsible for our actions? Do children under the age of 18 deserve a second chance and a shot at rehabilitation? These are some questions that continue to be discussed in a court of law, you now have an opinion. Will that opinion ever change?
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Credits & References

I would like to thank the following websites for providing such useful information on juvenile justice and continually provided information on the topic:

PBS, Death Penalty Information Center, MSNBC, CS Monitor and Web Quest Templates
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References: I would like to thank the following websites for providing such useful information on juvenile justice and continually provided information on the topic: PBS, Death Penalty Information Center, MSNBC, CS Monitor and Web Quest Templates ________________________________________