Answer all three questions.
1. What legal system does the U.S. use, and what is the type of government? Explain the tri-level government system and the U.S. government’s three institutions (executive, legislature, courts). What are two unique aspects of the U.S. system, and why are they unique?
2. How much discretion do police have in enforcing criminal laws? Explain the difference between police use of reasonable suspicion to stop and probable cause to arrest. When can police use force, including deadly force, and when is a police officer’s use of force excessive? How does the court evaluate the police officer’s actions?
3. Describe the U.S. incarceration system and what are the current issues and trends. What is the status of Capital punishment in the U.S.?
The following are the relevant sources that should be used, though outside sources can be brought in:
ORIGINAL US STATE CONSTITUTIONS
Virginia http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/va-1776.htm
Pennsylvania http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pa08.asp
Massachusetts http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/ma-1780.htm
All http://www.constitution.org/cons/early_state_cons.htm (For your
Information Only)
Police
Five Myths about Police (WP, 2020)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-
policing/2020/06/25/65a92bde-b004-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html
Paterson (2020) A Reckoning for Police In America
https://today.law.harvard.edu/a-reckoning-for-policing-in-america/
DeSilva et al., Ten Things We Know about Policing in America (PEW)
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/03/10-things-we-know-about-
race-and-policing-in-the-u-s/
Know Your Rights -Stopped by the Police (ACLU, 2021) Original US State Constitutions
Virginia http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/va-1776.htm
Pennsylvania http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pa08.asp
Massachusetts http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/ma-1780.htm
All http://www.constitution.org/cons/early_state_cons.htm (For your
Information Only)
POLICE
Five Myths about Police (WP, 2020)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-
policing/2020/06/25/65a92bde-b004-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html
Paterson (2020) A Reckoning for Police In America
https://today.law.harvard.edu/a-reckoning-for-policing-in-america/
DeSilva et al., Ten Things We Know about Policing in America (PEW)
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/03/10-things-we-know-about-
race-and-policing-in-the-u-s/
Know Your Rights -Stopped by the Police (ACLU, 2021)
Courts
THE COURTS
Our Criminal Legal system: Plagued by Problems and Ripe for Reform (ABA,
2020)
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/publications/dispute_resol
ution_magazine/2020/dr-magazine-criminal-justice-reform/our-criminal-legal-
system/
How to Fix the Federal Criminal Justice System (Brennan Center, 2020)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-fix-federal-
criminal-justice-system-parthttps://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/stopped-by-police/
Courts
Our Criminal Legal system: Plagued by Problems and Ripe for Reform (ABA,
2020)
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/publications/dispute_resol
ution_magazine/2020/dr-magazine-criminal-justice-reform/our-criminal-legal-
system/
How to Fix the Federal Criminal Justice System (Brennan Center, 2020)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-fix-federal-
criminal-justice-system-part
