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This CNNfyi.com lesson plan is supplemented with material from Electric Chair ConstitutionalityLesson Plans by monthLesson Plans by subject Editor's note: If you are planning to use the news story that this lesson plan is based on for a homework assignment, please write the URL on the board and have your students copy it. CNNfyi.com updates the site in the early evening, so students may have difficulty finding it without the URL. You can find the lesson plan by going to the Subject Areas page and clicking PREVIOUS in the square for Today's Lesson Plan. After students have read the CNNfyi.com article, "Death penalty by electrocution on trial," ask the following questions: 1. Who is Ronald Keith Spivey, and what is the charge against him? What is his sentence? Why did the Georgia high court grant him a stay of execution? To what had Spivey agreed in the case that his sentence were carried out? Of what use would this videotape be? 2. What is "cruel and unusual punishment"? Do you believe that death by electrocution is cruel and unusual? Why or why not? What forms of punishment or methods of death would you consider to fall into "cruel and unusual punishment"? Is the death penalty itself in this category? Defend your answer. 3. Have students read the eighth amendment of the U.S. Constitution and interpret its meaning as it applies to the case before the Georgia court. Have students discuss and debate what should happen to Spivey should the court decide that electrocution is indeed unconstitutional. 4. Students can write persuasive papers defending or opposing the continued use of a death penalty. Have them back their opinions with specific examples and/or cases. Direct students to use HighWired.com's lesson, "The Death Penalty: a question of life or death" to gain more information about the issue. RELATED SITES: Death Penalty Links |
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