Assignment:
Debate: Should the death penalty be abolished? Because you may or may not already have a strong opinion about the death penalty, the instructor will arbitrarily assign you and your classmates to a specific viewpoint. Should you be assigned to a viewpoint with which you disagree, consider it an opportunity to expand your knowledge of what "the other side" thinks about the issue. As a result, you will have a more holistic understanding of the death penalty when the debate concludes.
The instructor will divide the class into two debate clusters: Keep the Death Penalty and Abolish the Death Penalty.
Assuming your assigned viewpoint. Debate your position with any student who has the opposite viewpoint. Refer to the below list of talking points for debate topics.
1. If you were assigned to Keep the Death Penalty:
- The death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment because...
- The death penalty is morally justified because...
- The death penalty deters criminal behavior because...
- The death penalty is fairly applied to convicts regardless of race because...
- Wrongful conviction is not a death penalty problem because...
2. If you were assigned to Abolish the Death Penalty:
- The death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment because...
- The death penalty is immoral because...
- The death penalty does not deter criminal behavior because...
- The death penalty is unfairly applied to convicts of certain races because...
- The death penalty harms the innocent who are wrongfully convicted because...
Please help me write about both sides (Keep and Abolish the Death Penalty).