1. April 7 Rhode Island Legislative Hearing: As many of you may know, Governor George Ryan of Illinois gained national attention when he announced the commutation of the death sentences of all 164 prisoners on Illinois’ death row. This decision by Governor Ryan has brought the issue of the death penalty to the attention of many state legislators, so it’s time to bring the issue to RI. Your job is to conduct a mock legislative hearing in RI on the issue of the death penalty in RI. The two sides will be led by the activist groups, eye-for-an-eye and turn-the-other-cheek. While these two groups are the leaders of the opposing coalitions, they are not the only groups who will be represented and each side is expected to bring in some heavyweights to make the case. {Note that on March 12, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an indefinite stay in what would be Texas’ 300th execution. The article was forwarded in a separate e-mail.] Note that we will be viewing The Shawshank Redemption which deals with the larger landscape of incarceration. Also note that the recently proposed Governor’s state budget for RI was criticized for allocating more stable funding to the prison system than to education. While cost may not appear to be central to the debate over capital punishment, it is one aspect of the debate both pro and con. Of course, there are those who factor in human capital as well. Please be sure to notify us if you expect us to play an active role or to serve as observers only.