Death Penalty Wiki
September 17, 2005
During my first year of law school, I read all the post-Furman death penalty cases, and summarized them in a chart. I never got around to updating the chart, however, as it seemed like an overwhelming project. (Plus, the more I learned about death penalty jurisprudece, the less I realized I knew.) But I found the answer - a wiki. A wiki is a "collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it."
So here's how it works:
1. Check out the Death Penalty Wiki.
2. If you think it's a worthwhile project, e-mail me for a login.
3. Add and edit contributions to your heart's content.
There are only two "guidelines." First, the document name should be
the case style with cite to the U.S. Reports. Second, the beginning of
the entry should look like this:
Issue: [One sentence question presented.]
Answer: [Yes, or no.]
See the entry on Roper v. Simmons for an example.
Of course, the more context you can provide, the better. But if we do nothing other than provide a list of all the post-Furman cases, and state their holdings, we will be in great shape.
I hope to hear from some of you soon.