CAPSTONE CLASS CULIMINATION PROJECT ASSIGNMENT
DRUGS AND THE LAW
As we agreed in class, your culmination project paper will discuss judicial opinions related to DRUGS and the LAW. The cases you choose should have a unifying theme, for example, cases involving the Rockefeller drug laws or criminal cases relating to drug possession or sale or trafficking, or civil cases concerning medical malpractice in the prescription of drugs or cases involving product liability against drug companies. These are just a few ideas. You are free to choose others as long as you can find sufficient relevant LAW to analyze and discuss.
You must discuss a minimum of FOUR cases that directly concern your chosen topic. Each case must have resulted in a JUDICIAL OPINION RENDERED BY A STATE OR FEDERAL COURT (preferably from the same jurisdiction). It is insufficient to rely on newspaper accounts or articles from the internet – you MUST cite PRIMARY AUTHORITY – the cases themselves. Your cases MUST have a common topic. Choosing your topic is perhaps the most difficult part of this assignment. You should spend many, many hours of research before committing to your topic.
Your paper should be a minimum of five and a maximum of ten double-spaced typed pages. You should include cites (in proper Bluebook form) to primary and secondary authority to support all of your assertions. In addition to researching the primary authority (case law, statutes and administrative law), do not forget that you may find valuable information in legal periodicals, legal encyclopedias, treatises and annotated law reports.
PLEASE REVIEW THE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY STANDARDS IN THE NYCTC CATALOGUE IF YOU ARE UNCLEAR ABOUT THE RULES CONCERNING PLAGIARISM. All work that you submit must be entirely your own. Be sure to cite to every quote that you use!!!! The rules on plagiarism apply to everything you submit in this class, including first drafts. As I mentioned in class, plagiarism will result in an F grade on the offending paper and a referral to the colleges Academic Integrity Committee for further sanctions.
