News Article Review Instructions
In Modules/Weeks 3 and 6, you are required to submit a brief essay, which discusses current news articles that relate to criminal law and procedure. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to evaluate current legal issues that specifically relate to criminal law and procedure; thus, the news articles that you choose should address a situation in which aspects of criminal law and procedure are present and highlighted by the media. Your essays should be critical reviews of the articles, meaning that you should discuss your own opinion regarding the articles, rather than simply summarize them.
Each review is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of the module/week in which it is assigned. Review the News Article Review Grading Rubric to improve the quality of your essays and be sure to adhere to all of the specific guidelines described below.
News Article Selection Guidelines
The articles or news stories that you choose should be 1) found in a newspaper, on a news program, or from another reputable media source; 2) published within the last month; 3) clearly related to the field of law, specifically criminal law and procedure; and 4) clearly addressing key legal issues tied to the study of criminal law and procedure as well as biblical issues. Each article review must cover different topics. Refrain from using follow-up pieces or multiple perspectives of the same topic. For example, if you find an article discussing a specific case in
The New York Times, you cannot use a follow-up piece put out a few days later in the same paper or a different article in a different paper discussing the same topic.
Essay Guidelines
Your essay should be brief—a minimum of 1-page to a maximum of 2-pages, double-spaced. In the essay, you must summarize the article in order to demonstrate your comprehension of the content. Additionally, you should identify key elements discussed in the article and relate those elements back to concepts discussed in the course. Discuss whether the situation described in the article implements any of the concepts discussed in the course or if there are possible ways that concepts from the course could be implemented.
At the end of the essay, provide the complete citation for the article (including the publication date). If possible, you should include the actual article either by pasting it at the end of the document or by providing a link to the article. Format the essay and citation in correct Bluebook style.