Assignment Prompts
View the following assignment prompts below.
Prompt #1: Policy Deep Dive
Write a paper examining the development and treatment of a policy relevant to the justice system as expressed via chief justices’ State of the Judiciary speeches and other scholarly sources. Students should examine the emergence of the policy on the agendas of court leaders, relevant problems or challenges related to the policy, possible solutions to the issue promoted by chief justices, and whether the issue has been resolved satisfactorily. Have some states been more successful than others? Students are encouraged to highlight differences and similarities among the states and their consequences for the relevant policy.
Below are some potential paper topics. You are not required to select from among these suggestions; additional topics must be approved by your instructor.
- Attorney discipline and misconduct
- Court unification
- Courthouse security
- Indigent defense (e.g., public defenders)
- Interpreters
- Judicial budget
- Judicial compensation
- Judicial ethics and misconduct
- Judicial selection
- Jury selection (voir dire)
- Juvenile crime
- Media access to courts and trials
- Mental health and illness issues
- Pandemic response
- Prison overcrowding
- Pro se litigants (self-represented)
- Specialty courts (problem-solving courts)
- Technology and online services
Prompt #2: State of the State Judiciaries
Write a paper examining the recent / current achievements and challenges of state justice systems as expressed via chief justices’ most recent State of the Judiciary speeches and other scholarly sources. Students should summarize the set of policy issues on the agendas of contemporary court leaders, possible solutions to the issues promoted by chief justices, and the outlook for achieving solutions in the near future. Are there trends among the states that are facing similar challenges? What policies do chief justices discuss with optimism vs. pessimism? Does the rhetoric of any chief justices suggest that they currently have positive or negative relations with the legislature or public?
Prompt #3: Better Know a Justice System
Write a paper examining the institutional development of one state’s justice system (e.g., the Georgia justice system) as expressed via chief justices’ State of the Judiciary speeches and other scholarly sources. Students should summarize the set of policy issues that have reached the agendas of the state’s chief justices over time. What major achievements and challenges have the state’s justice system experienced? Have major reforms of note been enacted? Where problems were present, to what extent have they been resolved? What challenges remain for the state’s justice system to overcome?
Prompt #4: State Justice Systems: Comparative Analysis
Write a paper examining the challenges and achievements of two or more states’ justice systems (e.g., the Georgia, Indiana, and Missouri justice systems) as expressed via chief justices’ State of the Judiciary speeches and other scholarly sources. Students should summarize the set of policy issues that have reached the agendas of the states’ chief justices in recent decades. What major achievements and challenges have the states’ justice systems experienced? Have major reforms of note been enacted? Where problems were present, to what extent have they been resolved? What challenges remain for the state’s justice system to overcome? How have the political, economic, or demographic characteristics of the states contributed to their shared and unique challenges and reforms?