Argue for the prosecution (or defense)

Today we reviewed the following due dates:

 

Thursday, February 19th - study hall, 4-6 pm, five points for each hour of quiet, sustained work;

 

Friday, February 20th - ICB discussion - make sure that you are reading so that your contribution to the discussion is scintillating!

Last day to submit your review of The Great Debaters; and

Vocabulary sentences due on or before 11:59 p.m.  Please recall that you must write a complex or a compound sentence with every word from the "Last List In Cold Blood" that is on vocabulary.com PLUS with every word on the list to which a note is attached.  You will write 26 sentences in total.  Please see me if you have questions.

 

Tuesday, February 24th - Bring a hard copy of your vocabulary sentences to class.

 

Wednesday, February 25th - annotations for parts III and IV are due; Test on Parts III and IV.

 

Monday, March 2nd - vocabulary test!

 

Today you began to write jury arguments according to the following handout:

You think I’m Crazy???!!!!

What do you mean, right here?!?

Asserting the insanity defense and motion for change of venue

As you will hear from the Chris Kyle story on NPR, the insanity defense and motion for change of venue are still useful weapons in criminal defense.

Now it’s your turn.  If your surname begins with A-G, you will write a jury argument stating that Dick deserves the insanity defense as well as a change of venue.  If you think that the M’Naghten rule should be changed, argue this as well (maybe a Plan B?)  If you are unfamiliar with the M’Naghten rule, consult your book or look it up.

If your surname begins with H-M, you must assert in your jury argument that Dick deserves neither an insanity defense nor a change of venue.

If your surname begins with N-R, you must write a jury argument arguing that Perry deserves the insanity defense as well as a change of venue.  If you think that the M’Naghten rule should be changed, argue this as well (maybe a Plan B?)

If your surname begins with S-Z, you must assert in your jury argument that Perry deserves neither an insanity defense nor a change of venue.

You must use textual support in your argument.  To this end, you may wish to peruse pages 267 through 302 although you will likely find useful information elsewhere in the book.

For the structure of your argument, you may use a combination of Nestorian and Strawman or Concession, Strawman, Concession, or a combination thereof.

You may work with a partner if you would like.  You will deliver your jury argument to the class tomorrow.  We will ratiocinate your argument on Thursday.

Have a great night!