Case:does the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the eight-amendment bar the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles?

"Moot Court" is a legal exercise where argues a historic Supreme Court case.

There are two sources of evidence you need to present in the argument.

1. a reference to the US Constitution (or amendments), and
2. Stare Decisis - a prior case that supports your main point.

You will argue issues you strongly agree or disagree with, yet you must defend/prosecute these issues per the Law and the U.S. Constitution -notyour emotion or personal experience.

The prosecution/defense setup works like this:In Moot Court, assume that the Supreme Courtdecision is "on trial". Your job asdefenseis to support the decision of the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the question (Majority opinion - This is the "Yes" side). So, as Defense you will argue the reasons why the moot judge (i.e., your professor) should "stay the decision".

ForProsecution the No side you will then agree with the Minority side and should write a convincing argument as to why the Judge should "overturn" the Supreme Court's decision. You will get your facts from the Taking Sides book, and if you really want to land a convincing argument, you may lookup similar/supporting cases online.

Please remember: "Yes" side which is the Majority Opinion. You will be acting as the Defense. (Your Honor, I am ABC from the Defense...) You will be asking the judge to "stay the decision."

AND the "No" side. Prosecution.You will be asking the judge to "overturn the decision."

Then study the support you agree with. The Prosecution and Defense. Each of those sides has its own section of support used by the Supreme Court Justice. After the Justice's support sections there are usually two additional sections of support for your argument. The "Exploring the Issue" and the "Internet References" sections can assist you in polishing your argument.

The argument designs. Should be comprised of these six paragraphs (can be more).

First paragraph: Intro - just like the example in the How-To Guide. The last sentence of this intro paragraph should be the "Attention Grabber" required by the rubric.

2^ndPara: Introduce and explain the reference you need from the US Constitution or Amendment.

3^rdPara: Tie in that constitutional reference into your argument. Use this to support your main point.

4^thPara: Introduce and explain the reference from one of the Prior Cases used in the Supreme Court rationale. (i.e. Justice Thomas used Matthews v. Eldridge (1976) on p. 22 and others).

5^thPara: Tie in that prior case reference into your argument. Use this to support your main point.

6^thpara: Close the argument -

THANK YOU VERY MUCH