Assignment:
Instructions: Please respond to one (1) of the following questions. Your response cannot exceed 1500 words (excluding in-text citations and bibliography). You are expected to reference the Textbook, scholarly journals, and cases to support the arguments you are making for the question you select.
Question Options:
1. Daytime courtroom television shows, such as ‘Judge Judy', are sometimes criticized as not presenting an accurate portrait of what actually occurs in a courtroom setting. To what degree is this criticism accurate? And, does the entertainment value of these daytime courtroom shows ‘trump' any deficiencies in educational content?
2. We have seen how television, movies, and literary works often present a fictionalized view of what actually takes place in criminal court proceedings. Do these popular media vehicles also present a fictionalized view of what takes place in actual civil trials? Since civil cases far outnumber criminal cases in the American court system, does any educational deficiency in how civil cases are presented on television, in movies, or through literature pose a greater problem for achieving justice in the American court system?
3. Do portrayals of death penalty situations on television, in movies, or through literary works have any significant impact on how ordinary citizens or legislative policy makers view the death penalty? And, is the portrayal of death penalty situations in these popular culture vehicles an accurate picture capital punishment or simply a form of fictionalized advocacy for a particular perspective on capital punishment?
4. Is it possible to secure a ‘fair jury' and a ‘just verdict' in either a criminal or a civil case due to the overwhelming exposure most individuals have to fictionalized presentations of how the American justice system works on television shows, in the movies, and though popular justice system novels? If so, how would you suggest that jurors be ‘educated' with respect to what to ‘realities' in an actual courtroom setting?
5. Americans are deeply divided on the death penalty, yet most films and books that involve the death penalty oppose the application of the death penalty. Giving specific examples from media sources (movies, television, or literature), what reasons do these media venues provide to support a negative view of the death penalty? Are these reasons convincing? From the opposite perspective, what specific media venues offer examples of support for the death penalty? Are the reasons provided by these media sources convincing?