In this project, you will write an obituary for a criminal justice policy, practice, or system feature that has caused significant harm or inequality. While written in the style of an obituary, this is a serious analytical assignment that examines how identity, power, and social control operate within the criminal justice system.
The goal is not to summarize history, but to critically evaluate how this policy shaped crime control, whose lives it affected most, and why it should be re-examined, dismantled, or replaced.
Step 1: Choose Your Subject
Select a criminal justice policy
Examples could include, but are not limited to:
- Cash bail
- The War on Drugs
- Stop-and-frisk policing
- Mandatory minimum sentencing
- Zero-tolerance school discipline
Step 2: Write the Obituary
Your obituary should be written in a narrative obituary format and include the following sections:
- Announcement of Death
- When and where did this policy/practice emerge?
- What problem was it supposed to solve?
- Life History
- How did this policy function in practice?
- How was it justified politically, legally, or morally?
- Survivors and the Bereaved
- Which groups were most harmed?
- How did race, class, gender, age, or other identity factors shape experiences under this policy?
- Cause of Death
- What evidence, criticism, or social changes exposed its failures?
- Why is it no longer defensible as a justice practice?
- Legacy
- What damage remains?
- What beliefs or structures still carry its influence today?
- In Lieu of Flowers
- What should replace this policy?
- What would a more equitable alternative look like?
Formatting
- Obituaries should have both written and visual components
- Be creative!
Get this or a similar paper done in as fast as 4 hours, 24/7.
NB: We do not sell prewritten papers. All essays are written from scratch according to specific needs and instructions
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