Death Penalty and the Supreme Court

This skills training class focuses on the United States Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment beginning with Furman v. Georgia (1972) and continuing to the Court’s current docket. There are two capital cases before the Court (so far) this term. Students will: study the Court’s fundamental Eighth Amendment decisions and apply those holdings to current capital cases; listen to the actual oral arguments before the Court; review the record and lower court opinions; and write an “opinion” for the Court in a pending case. This class counts towards the skills training requirement.