Assignment:
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Give example of an ex post facto law?
2. Is it possible for the criminal law to define the crime of obscenity precisely enough to avoid the "vice of vagueness" or the problem of overbreadth?
3. Should the constitutional right of privacy invalidate criminal statutes that require a minor to obtain parental consent to obtain an abortion?
a. Would the constitutional right of privacy provide a defense to a charge of possession of obscene materials where videos were viewed only by the defendant in the privacy of his or her home?
b. Could a father who, without judicial approval, unplugs the respirator sustaining the breathing of his comatose, terminally ill child be prosecuted for murder?
6. Give an example of a law that would be constitutional per se, and point out how such a law might be unconstitutional in its application to a specific conduct.
7. Give an example of a law defining a crime that, although held to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, has been declared unconstitutional by some state courts. Why can such a result occur in our federal system?