Question

You are a paralegal assisting an attorney who is representing an individual who has been convicted of a murder during a home invasion and who was sentenced in state court to be executed. You are assisting with research for an appeal to the U.S Supreme Court. Provide the following..

1. A breif history of capital punishment in the U.S include case law

2. An explaination of the congessional ban on "cruel and unsusual punishment" including the 4 primary dimensions as interputed by the court

3. Discuss an example you found interesting of a right asserted by inmates under the 8th amendment's cruel and unsual punishment clause and the outcome..



I'm stuck and need help starting!!
Any type of help would be appreciated, I don't need them answered for me however I do need to know where I can go to find imformation to properly answer each question!

Answer 1

Here's a start for your research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_decisions_on_capital_punishment

http://www.google.com/#q=congressional+ban+on+%22cruel+and+unusual+punishment%22&spell=1