Overview
Week 4 Position Paper and W4: Paper Outline (two different assignments)
(same as the W4: Case Analysis 3: The Limits of Government Power in a Public Health Emergency assignment but this has to be 1-2 pages long, not 500 words).
Instructions, Before participating in the Week 4 Discussion, please submit your written position paper related to the case for grading. You should base your position paper related to the case on the Recommended and Required Readings as well as some limited independent research. You should cite any sources that you relied upon in crafting your position paper.
Your position paper should be no longer than one or two pages.
Please focus your arguments on the legal issues raised by the case and please try to incorporate the weekly readings into your post. Also, in your responses to the posts of other students, please direct your responses and questions to those students who represent a different decision-maker. For example, if you represent the Alabama Governor, please direct your comments and questions to students who are playing the other roles.
This week, we will conduct our final case.
Please consider the following fictitious situation.
Originating in Asia, a deadly airborne disease referred to a Disease X by the mass media spreads to the United States. Disease X kills more than half of the people who are exposed to the disease within a few days of exposure. From April 2018 to June 2018, Disease X spreads from China to the large cities of the United States like New York and Los Angeles. Then, Disease X spreads to Birmingham, Alabama because of air travel.
After Disease X spreads to Birmingham, Alabama, the Governor of Alabama declares a state of emergency and calls up the state's National Guard to maintain law and order in Birmingham and other cities in Alabama. In cities like New York and Los Angeles, Disease X caused a nearly complete breakdown of law and order as many law enforcement and emergency services became overwhelmed as citizens of the infected cities looted and rioted in search of food and medicine when social order broke down. To address the crisis, the Governor of Alabama declared a twenty-four-hour curfew to prevent the spread of Disease X. The Governor signs another order that allows the members of the Alabama National Guard to arrest any person who violates the curfew order. In a speech announcing his actions, the Governor states that he needed to take the drastic measures because many members of the Birmingham Police Department abandoned their positions.
During the curfew, the Alabama National Guard arrest dozens of citizens of Birmingham. And, some of these citizens, due to their actions, infect other citizens causing Disease X to spread throughout the city. Disease X kills twenty-thousand citizens of Birmingham. While tragic, the death toll in Birmingham was significantly lower than in other comparable cities in the United States. To explore Alabama's response to Disease X, a Select Committee of Congress orders an investigation into the Governor's actions.
If your last name begins with the letters from A to E, please assume that you represent a civil libertarian organization that has raised questions about the Alabama Governor's decision to use the Alabama National Guard during the crisis.
If your last name begins with the letters from F to L, please assume that you represent the Alabama Governor.
If your last name begins with the letters from M to S, please assume that you are a law professor who has been called by the Committee to provide your opinion on the constitutionality of the Alabama Governor's actions during the crisis.
If your last name begins with the letters ranging from T-Z, please assume that you are a citizen of Birmingham that was detained by the Alabama National Guard.
Before posting your ideas in this Discussion, please submit your one or two-page position paper on your position on the Alabama Governor's actions via the Assignment portal.
Please focus your arguments on the legal issues raised by the case and please try to incorporate the weekly readings into your post. Also, in your responses to the posts of other students, please direct your responses and questions to those students who represent a different decision-maker. For example, if you represent the Alabama Governor, please direct your comments and questions to students who are playing the other roles.
Assignment
I am looking for a one or two-page outline that describes the structure and scope of your paper. I am not looking for any specific format. Instead, you should aim to provide me with a sense of your paper’s thesis, supporting evidence, and overall structure.
Below is a handout from the University of South Florida that provides several examples of research paper outlines.
How To: Outlining a Research Paper(this link opens in a new window/tab)
If you opt to write a case note on a recent Supreme Court case, you should review the below handout and provide me with a brief outline of the case note: Case Note (this link opens in a new window/tab)