Out-of-Class Papers: Students will write two short papers of 600-1000 words (2-3 typed/wordprocessed, double-spaced pages) analyzing the arguments presented on BOTH sides of two of the U.S. Supreme Court opinions covered in class. Topics for these papers will be discussed in class and workshop sessions will be scheduled to assist students in writing them. These papers will be worth 25 points each (50 points total).

Choose from the cases covered in class (which will include the following plus others to be added later) or pick out another case (subject to approval):

Gregg v. Georgia (Capital Punishment)

Roe v. Wade (Abortion)

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (Affirmative Action)

To write the paper, you should first read the opinions (ignore the footnotes and most of the text; look only for the places where they discuss the issues we cover in class or in conversation). Identify AS MANY AS POSSIBLE (need not find ALL if you find plenty to write the paper and cover the most important ones) of the arguments oresented on the opposing sides in the decision (note that the Dissenting Opinions are written by justices who disagreed with the majority and Concurring Opinions are written by justices who agreed with the majority but for different reasons). Try to put these arguments in a simpler form of PREMISES followed by CONCLUSIONS. Identify any ASSUMPTIONS or PRESUPPOSITIONS made by the writer (those are ENTHYMEMES where an "obvious" premise is omitted in stating the argument. Briefly evaluate the arguments presented by each side in terms of CRITICAL THINKING (validity, soundness, fallacies, slanters, etc.)

Final Out-of-Class Paper: Advanced students will write one longer paper (4-5 typed/wordprocessed, double-spaced pages) on one of the topics, researching additional materials about the argument and presenting the student’s own arguments as well. This paper will be worth 40 points.