LAW-6518 DEATH PENALTY SEMINAR
This seminar is designed to introduce law students to the complex law and procedure inherent in death penalty practice. Constitutional issues concerning the use of the death penalty will be examined and the five death penalty schemes in use in the United States will be compared with each other, with focus on the Florida death penalty scheme. The impact of recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court and selected state and federal courts will be studied in order for students to understand developments in death penalty practice. Emphasis will be placed upon the different problems presented in the trial of cases involving the death penalty, including jury selection, proof of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and arriving at an appropriate sentence. Students will be expected to recognize the problems presented by direct appeals in death penalty cases as well as in state post conviction proceedings and federal habeas corpus actions. A paper on an approved topic relating to the death penalty will be required in lieu of a written final examination.
Distribution
Law