Lesson Title: Death Penalty

Course: Eleventh/Twelfth Grade Social Studies Elective (“Law and You”)

Unit of Study: We the Jury

Abstract

Students participate in an inquiry-based lesson plan involving the history of the death penalty. Students review historic death penalty statistics, and create hypotheses that answer the question, What caused the spike in executions in [enter year here]? Students’ knowledge of history is tested as they hypothesize about execution spikes in the 1690’s (Salem Witchcraft Trials), 1740’s (“New York Consipiracy” or “Great Negro Plot”), 1930’s (Communist Scare), the drop in the 1970’s (Supreme Court Ruling), and the resurgence in the 2000’s. Students analyze data provided in class, discuss the logical implications of the data, and re-formulate their hypotheses, seeking more plausible answers to the question. Students are introduced to primary source documents, execution methods (hanging, gibbeting, electrocution, lethal injection), execution of minors, and other aspects of the death penalty history in the United States. This lesson is intended to stimulate both inquiry and value-based reasoning in preparation for a detailed analysis of the OJ Simpson case, the effectiveness of the United States criminal justice process, and a value-based discussion on the use of the death penalty.

Objective(s)

Students will:

• develop hypotheses related to the cause of historical spikes in U.S. death penalty executions (Social Studies Content Standards V.1.HS.3, Information Processing, Michigan Curriculum Framework)
• engage each other in thoughtful conversations that deeply examine the public policy debate relating to the death penalty, and place this issue in its historic context so that they can make reasoned and informed decisions about their civic responsibilities (Social Studies Content Standards VI.2.HS.1, Group Discussion, Michigan Curriculum Framework).
• describe the influence (or lack thereof) of the American concept of democracy and individual rights in the world with respect to the death penalty (Social Studies Content Standards III.5.HS.1, American Government and World Affairs, Michigan Curriculum Framework)

Key Concepts

hypothesis – a tentative assumption made in order to test validity of evidence and infer logical implications

death penalty – execution of individuals, by one of several methods (in the United States, lethal injection, lethal gas, hanging, firing squad, electrocution) for certain capital crimes, including murder and treason

execution of minor – execution of an individual under the age of 18 either at the time of execution or at the time of the capital offense

Eighth Amendment – Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Instructional Resources

These resources are shown in order of use in the lesson.

(2001,November) Death penalty curricula for high school. Retrieved December 1, 2002, from Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab and Death Penalty Information Center Web site: http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/arguments/contents.htm

(n.d.). Executions in the U.S. 1608-1987: The Espy File; with recent years added by DPIC. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ESPY.html

(2002, September) U.S. Department of Justice capital punishment statistics. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm

(n.d.). Executions by Date. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ESPYdate.pdf

(n.d.). The terrible transformation: a list of white persons taken into custody on account of the conspiracy 1741. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h302.html

Dewan, George. (n.d.). Legacy: a panicked response to the 'great negro plot'. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.lihistory.com/3/hs313a.htm

(n.d.). The terrible transformation: witchhunt in New York: the 1741 rebellion. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p286.html

Avery, Ron. (n.d.). Philadelphia oddities: the gibbet. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://www.ushistory.org/oddities/gibbet.htm

(n.d.) Executions by state: death penalty in the United States of America. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executionmap.html

(2002, August). Clearinghouse of Information: Juvenile Death Penalty Reported Worldwide Executions of Juveniles Since 1990. Retrieved December 1, 2002 from American University Washington College of Law Focus on Capital Punishment Web site: http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/deathpenalty/juvworld.html

Sequence of Activities

This lesson takes place after students have reviewed and analyzed the use of evidence in criminal cases, the concept of reasonable doubt, and the selection of juries. Students will also have analyzed a death with dignity case, and surveyed a group of adults about their opinions with respect to death with dignity. The data and articles used in this lesson are sequenced so that students first hypothesize about the historic spikes in executions in this country, and then read about key events or historical trends that may have created the spike (e.g., the 1741 “New York Conspiracy”). This lesson is designed to last one block class period (100 minutes). Individual steps in the lesson can receive greater or lesser focus, depending on the interest level of the students, and the historic knowledge level of the teacher.

1. Assign homework prior to this lesson:

(a)Divide the class into eight groups of four each, with each group member assigned the task of researching both the “agree” and “disagree” side of one of four “Arguments For and Against” the death penalty on the Michigan State Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) web site (http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/arguments/contents.htm). Students should be prepared to explain their assigned argument to the class, referring to their notes as necessary. These arguments include: Deterrence, Retribution, Innocence, and Arbitrariness/Discrimination.

(b) In addition, instruct the students to access the “STATE BY STATE DATA” section of the Michigan State web site (http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/index.html) to answer the following questions: (1) If OJ Simpson had been found guilty in 1994, could he have received the death penalty? What method of execution would have been used? How had this changed since 1991? (answers: yes, California has a death penalty; prior to 1992, only lethal gas was used; after 1992, lethal gas or lethal injection); (2) If you received the death penalty in Michigan, how would you be executed? (answer: Michigan does not have a death penalty); (3) Which state accounts for over one-third of the 723 executions in the 723 U.S. since 1977 (answer: Texas).

2. Explain that the purpose of the lesson is to learn about inquiry skills in the social sciences. Students will form hypotheses about reasons for spikes in the death penalty during teacher-selected historic periods, and then examine data or written communications to test their hypotheses. Explain that a value-based discussion about the death penalty will follow this lesson.

3. Distribute the Espy File graph, “’Executions in the U.S. 1608-1987: The Espy File;’ with recent years added by DPIC” http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=199&scid=15). Ask the class for their reactions to the graph. Ask students to hypothesize about the increase (note: hypotheses about the overall increase will not be tested, this is a warm up to hypothesizing about particular spikes).

4. Ask students to look closely at the spikes that take place from 1675-1700. Ask them to create hypotheses for these spikes, based on their knowledge of historical events and geography.

5. Distribute pages 4-8 of the “Executions by Date” Espy file chronological list http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ESPYdate.pdf), which covers the time period from 1674-1700. (The complete Espy file is a 610-page PDF file, detailing all executions from 1608 to the present.) Give the student several minutes to create a chart listing crimes across the top, and years down the side, working either in groups or as a large class demonstration using the board. If there is a classroom computer, demonstrate the creation of an Excel graph showing this data (this is an example of what students will create for a graded assignment).

Discuss the students’ findings, how well the data fit the hypotheses, and ask the students to create new hypotheses and brainstorm methods to test them. Ask the students if they believe rape or arson are sufficient reasons to use the death penalty (the issue of rape will be revisited later in the lesson).

A detailed map of the United States’ colonies would be helpful for this exercise. Provide background on the history of the time period (Salem witchcraft trials, Salem as the colonies’ largest trading port, piracy, hanging vs. gibbeting).

sdffsd17	df	15 Nov 1992
sdfsdf14	sdf	30 Sept 1997
13	sdfsdfsf	dfsd3 Nov 2001
17	sdfsdfsf	3 Sept 1992
sdfsdf	sdfsdfsdf	sdfsd
13	sdfsdf	21 July 1993

6. Ask students to look closely at the spike that takes place in the 1740’s. Ask them to create hypotheses for this spike, based on their knowledge of history.

7. Distribute pages 16-22of the “Executions by Date” Espy file chronological list (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ESPYdate.pdf), which covers the time period from 1736-1745. Give the student several minutes to create a chart similar to the one in the previous exercise. Discuss the students’ findings, how well the data fit the hypotheses, and ask the students to create new hypotheses and brainstorm methods to test them.

sdffsd17	df	15 Nov 1992
sdfsdf14	sdf	30 Sept 1997
13	sdfsdfsf	dfsd3 Nov 2001
17	sdfsdfsf	3 Sept 1992
sdfsdf	sdfsdfsdf	sdfsd
13	sdfsdf	21 July 1993

8. Distribute the primary source document titled, “A List of White Persons taken into Custody on Account of the Conspiracy. 1741.” (Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h302.html). Help the students interpret the document, and then ask the students to match the persons listed as executed on the primary source document with the names in the Espy list. Explain that researchers compile information from primary source documents like this.

9. Distribute the article, “Legacy: A Panicked Response To the 'Great Negro Plot'” (Source: http://www.lihistory.com/3/hs313a.htm). After students have read the article, ask them to identify the persons listed as executed in the article on the Espy list. Explain that textbook writers and historians compile information from primary source documents like this. Discuss the history of the time period, and draw attention to the engraving of the slave being burned at the stake.

10. Ask students to conjecture on the reasons behind the different methods of execution. Hand out a picture of a gibbet iron (source: http://www.ushistory.org/oddities/gibbet.htm). (Gibbeting was reserved for heinous crimes, such as piracy, murder of a slave owner by a slave, murder of a husband by his wife). Explain to students that execution by hanging and gibbeting was a public event well into the 19^th-century.

Ask students if they believe the death penalty was a deterrent to capital offenses in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, and which of burning at the stake, gibbeting, pressing, hanging, or bludgeoning would be in keeping with today’s core democratic values.

11. Refer student attention back to the Espy File graph, “’Executions in the U.S. 1608-1987: The Espy File;’ with recent years added by DPIC,” and ask students to look closely at the spike that takes place in the 1930’s, as well as the drop in the 1970’s. Ask them to create hypotheses for this spike and trough, based on their knowledge of history. Either distribute printed copies of the Michigan State web site history file (10 pages in PDF format) (source: http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/history/history-3.htm), or read excerpts from the a printed copy you have made, or access the web site directly if your classroom is so equipped. Briefly discuss the 1930’s spike (Great Depression, World Wars, Communism) and the 1970’s trough (a ten-year moratorium on the death penalty that lasted from 1967-1977, due to certain Supreme Court rulings and general national debate whether the death penalty constituted “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the 8^th amendment).

Depending on student interest, refer to the detailed online descriptions of execution methods at the Michigan State web site (source: http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/methods/contents.htm).

Ask a student to read the 8^th Amendment out loud to the class. Ask the students what they think it means. (“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”)

Ask students if they believe the death penalty is currently a deterrent to capital offenses, and which of electrocution, lethal injection, lethal gas, hanging, or the firing squad are in keeping with today’s core democratic values.

12. Distribute “Executions by State Death Penalty in the United States of America” map (color printer required) (source: http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executionmap.html), which is a choropleth map of the 793 executions in the U.S. since the death penalty moratorium ended with the execution of Gary Gilmore by a Utah firing squad on January 17, 1977. Ask the students: (1) what single state accounts for over one-third of these 793 executions? (2) Which five states collectively account for over two-thirds of these 793 executions? (3) What are your hypotheses as to why these states are so active with executions, and how would you test them?

13. Distribute the 2-page summary, “Clearinghouse of Information: Juvenile Death Penalty Reported Worldwide Executions of Juveniles Since 1990” (source: http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/deathpenalty/juvworld.html). This itemizes juvenile deaths in the 7 countries where it has been allowed since 1990. After the students read the document, ask them: (1) which country allowed more juvenile deaths since 1990 than all other six combined (answer: United States); (2) what is the only country that still endorses executing minors (answer: United States). Ask the students to create hypotheses that explain this unique position of the world’s oldest Democracy.

17	15 Nov 1992
14	30 Sept 1997
13	3 Nov 2001
17	3 Sept 1992
13	21 July 1993

14. Close the discussion by reminding students that the purpose of the lesson was to learn about inquiry skills in the social sciences. Remind students that they made many good hypotheses, using actual examples created in class. Inform students that analysis of the social sciences is not an exact science. Ask students if anything was said during the discussion that influenced their thinking, and ask them to cite specific comments or moments that caused them to pause and reconsider a previous viewpoint. Conclude by using these student comments to point out that we learn from each other through discussion.

15. For homework, assign students the task of creating an Excel graph from data reviewed in class. The graph must reflect their examination of a hypothesis related to the history of the death penalty, and will be ultimately included in their culminating mock newspaper project. Demonstrate an example of an engaging graph with a meaningful caption.

Assessment

• Informal assessment will be based on classroom observation of student ability to participate effectively in inquiry-based discussion, formulation of hypotheses, analyzing data, and re-stating hypotheses.
• Formal assessment will be based on the graph students will create that reflects their examination of a hypothesis related to the history of the death penalty.