Research the case law and statutory law behind self-defense

Research the case law and statutory law behind self-defense and the use of deadly force. What does the case law reveal that an average citizen can use in terms of self-defense and deadly force? How is that different than what a law enforcement officer can do? Provide a detailed analysis of the case law in which the courts have grappled with these issues. Focus primarily on the Supreme Court cases on this issue.

• explain whether your selected topic is (or should be) a public policy-related matter, and why.

• use effective, well-designed search strategies and tools to efficiently and creatively refine searches, on the fly as needed

• apply multiple criteria to assess relevance, currency, authority, accuracy, purpose, audience and ideological perspectives related to your topic.

• look for statistical evidence that either supports or detracts from the criminal law-related challenges that you address, and explain its relevance and value to your selected topic. 

• clearly and effectively communicate, organize, and synthesize complex and often contradictory information to advance graduate level scholarly knowledge about your selected topic. 

• Quote, paraphrase, and cite information correctly and consistently, always using information in ways that are true to the original context. 

Your paper should be 8-10 pages. Here are some general guidelines. Please use a clear (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial, Courier) 12 point font and one inch margins on all four sides. Please include page numbers. Please double space. I recommend using topic and sub topic headings to organize your paper.

Please apply Bluebook citation style (which uses footnotes) if you are a Legal Studies student.  If you are not a Legal Studies student, you may use APA style, which uses end notes in a reference page at the end of your research paper.

It is fine for the total paper to be at 10 pages, including the title page, abstract and references. That being said, if the paper is 10 pages in length and then another few more pages with those items, that is fine too. What I'm really looking for in the paper is graduate level cohesive writing in which you research and analyze primary legal sources, such as case law, statutes and the US Constitution.

1. Write an introduction, which clearly identifies the topic of your report and the issues which you seek to illuminate. The introduction should include the thesis statement (or basis of your report), and a very preliminary overview of the evidence you will use to support it. Finally, the introduction should include a statement that identifies why is the topic of your report important.

2. The body of your report should be dedicated to supporting your thesis statement with claims gleaned from your research (into what others have written on the topic; data that you have gathered), readings from the course text, discussions, and/or case law, law review articles, etc. 

3. Conclude your report by recapitulating your thesis statement and explaining in greater detail the significance of your findings. Include in your conclusion some questions or claims about the topic and/or specific which you've written. If you believe more research needs to be done on your topic, be specific about what kind of research and how you think it ought to be done.