The research paper that you write for this class will be an argumentative paper on a current topic of significance. The paper should be at least five pages in length and should utilize a minimum of five sources.
It can be from any of the topics
Criminal Justice
• Should the judicial system be reevaluated or changed because of racially unfair
sentences?
• What changes should be implemented to prevent male-male prison rape?
• How has the proliferation of privately funded prisons changed the criminal justice
system in America?
• Should certain non-violent crimes be punishable by fines rather than jail time?
• Are state-mandated “three-strikes” policies unfair?
• Should children who commit certain crimes be treated as adults? If so, is there a
lower age limit to this policy?
• Are exile programs (where a criminal is sent to prison in a distant state) fair?
• What kinds of rights should criminals have?
• What conditions of incarceration are fair?
• Are certain kinds of capital punishment cruel and unusual?
• Should prison be punitive or rehabilitory in nature?
• Now that genetic/DNA evidence is admissable in court, should controversial closed
cases be re-opened?
• If someone has already been executed, should his or her case be re-opened under
certain circumstances? Should some kind of reparation be made to the families of the
wrongfully accused?
• Should there be a limit to the number of death row appeals that can be made?
• Is society’s obligation to simply remove a criminal from society, to actually punish
the criminal for crime, or a combination of both? Considering this, then what is the
nature of the death penalty in America today?
• Should the legal requirements for obtaining a search warrant be changed?
• If an officer finds something that he was not looking for (e.g., narcotics in an
automobile that was being searched for firearms), why should or shouldn’t the officer
have the right to take the accused into custody? Consider the issue of “reasonable
suspicion” in your discussion.
• Why are lawyers stereotyped as sharks? Is this a fair representation, and if not, why
is it so prevalent?
• Many consider today’s justice system to be too slow. What improvements could be
made to expedite the system without sacrificing due process?
• Many states have harsher penalties than others for drunk driving. Consider the
policies of a particular state and argue for a change in the penalties.
• Define “terrorist.” Under what circumstances, if any, is “terrorism” acceptable?
• Should terrorists be tried in a military or civil court?
• If being tried in our court system, should the citizens of other countries have the
same rights as citizens of the United States?
• Argue for or against an amendment to the statute of limitations for a particular
crime.