The Innocence Project Assignment

The Innocence Project Assignment

Select Number of Pages: 4 (1100 words)
Question description: Find at least two (2) articles (preferably from the online library) focused on two separate “real life” criminal cases in which DNA played a major role. Appropriate examples for this assignment might include the O.J. Simpson case or the John Benet Ramsey case although there are a myriad of true cases conducive for this assignment. Hint: The Innocence Project website serves as a great resource for this assignment. www.innocenceproject.org/

These articles can be from electronic sources, newspapers, or online journals however the cases must have occurred in the United States.

1) Based on the information from your research, write a summary of the impact and/or circumstances surrounding the DNA evidence. Also, please be sure to address the specific DNA technologies applicable to the case if in fact they are address in your research (i.e. mtDNA, Y-STR, ABO/PCR-based reverse dot-blot tests, etc. Note: Please remember to focus on the DNA evidence and not other types of physical evidence. For example, providing a lengthy case overview, biography of the offender, or rehashing of the case itself will not earn high marks. This paper should focus on the DNA technologies specifically.

2) In a separate section, state your opinion of the criminal cases you selected. Specifically, do you believe that the use of DNA evidence was ethical in these cases, do you believe the cases would have had the same outcome if not for the use of DNA (i.e. guilt or innocence of the offender), were the articles you selected written in a neutral, unbiased fashion, was the author pro- or anti- DNA, etc.

3) Finally, please discuss how the information learned in this class has given you more insight into the cases you opted to write about. Please note all three sections must be included for this library assignment.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument