Sections offered FALL 2023:
#5635
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MARLA SANDYS |
TuTh 12:40 PM–1:30 PM
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BH 310
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CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd S&H credit; COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
For permission to enroll in above class, email rsteele@indiana.edu and include your university ID number.
The death penalty represents the tip of the iceberg in our system of criminal justice. Of the nearly 2.3 million individuals incarcerated in this country, less than one-half of one percent is housed on death rows. A death sentence, however, is the most extreme sanction that our society can impose on an individual (there is some debate about this, as will be discussed in class). As such, it is reserved, allegedly, for those who have committed the most brutal, heinous acts: This class, in many respects, is devoted to discovering whether that statement is an accurate portrayal of our current system of capital punishment. More specifically, we will study the application of the death penalty in the United States, and especially Indiana: What crimes are eligible for a sentence of death? Who is most likely to receive a sentence of death? Should a person who is mentally ill be eligible for a death sentence? Who decides whether a sentence of death is appropriate? Why are people in favor of, or opposed to, capital punishment? Are innocent people sentenced to death? Executed? What role, if any, should the loved ones of homicide victims have in our system of capital punishment? Is there arbitrariness associated with the sentencing decisions in capital cases? Racism? How would we know? What kinds of evidence could we use to answer such questions? These are the types of questions that will guide our discussions throughout the semester.