The Research Paper will require the student to display an understanding of a constitutional issue. There is no makeup for the research paper. Students are required to write one original research paper six (6) pages, no more – no less, double-spaced, with one-inch margins and New Times Roman, 12 pt. font size. Do not include any header, cover page, or an abstract, (assignments submitted in Canvas are automatically assigned to the student), however, a properly APA formatted reference page is required which means the final submission will be seven (7) pages. To earn full credit for the research paper students are required to fully research the constitutional issue(s) presented in the assignment. The paper must be substantive, provide details and in-depth research and analysis, and cite sources in proper APA format. The assignment is not asking for your opinion. The research paper must include relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases and amendments in support of the paper’s position. The research paper must utilize a minimum of three (3) acceptable academic sources (which does not include cases). Acceptable academic sources include treatises, law journals, and law reviews. You may not use any dictionary, textbook, blog, newspaper, or online news articles; law firm/attorney website, or Wikipedia as a source as they are not acceptable academic sources. When in doubt ask me. If students do not meet the six-page requirement and/or do not follow all of the instructions for the assignment, the submission will have points reduced significantly. Details matter and must be read and followed “to the letter”. The Research Paper is worth 200 points. Read the Rubric and write accordingly. Late submissions will have points drastically deducted no matter how good the content. Notify me ahead of the deadline with reasons why a deadline cannot be met. Learn to submit uploaded word documents. DO NOT submit assignments via email. NO EXCEPTIONS. RESEARCH: You must take a position in response to the issue presented and support your position with acceptable academic sources, and relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases (relevant lower federal court decisions may also be utilized). Read the following fact pattern and explain: Whether it violates the Fourth Amendment when officers abandon their duty to address a traffic violation, which justified a pretextual stop to investigate a passenger.
Facts: On December 12, 1990, the body of Janet Crane was found lying in an alley. She had been shot in the head twice. It appeared that she had been sexually assaulted. No arrest was made, and the case remained cold for more than twenty years. In 2006, the case was reopened. State Police had preserved some of Crane’s garments from which DNA was extracted. A sample found on Crane’s underwear included sperm. Police discovered Roger Green had been a suspect during the initial investigation. He was later convicted of two other murders of young women in the same area and within mere weeks of Crane’s murder. It became paramount for police to obtain a sample of Green’s DNA. On August 2, 2006, Sergeant Olivia and Detective Rodrigo were tasked with procuring a sample of Green’s DNA. Sgt. Olivia was familiar with Green because she had arrested Green for being a felon in possession of a firearm, trafficking in marijuana, and being in possession of a stolen vehicle. The officers surveilled the home where Green was and observed him leave the house and get into the passenger seat of a car. The car took off at a high rate of speed. The officers followed the car and initiated a traffic stop. Knowing of Green’s pending gun charge and knowing that Green was suspected of shooting someone to death, Sgt. Olivia asked Green to step out of the car for a protective pat-down. When Green put his hands upon the car for the pat-down, he took his cigar out of his mouth and placed it on the back of the car. No citation was issued to the driver, and Green returned to the passenger seat. As the car drove off, the cigar fell on the ground, and Detective Rodrigo collected it. The cigar was submitted for testing to compare the DNA on its tip to the DNA extracted from Crane’s garments. The results were that the odds of the sperm on Crane’s garments belonging to someone other than Green were one in one-hundred-sixty trillion. Roger Green was indicted for first-degree rape and murder. Green has filed a motion with the court to suppress the DNA evidence obtained from his cigar as a violation of his 4th Amendment right.
