For this assignment, students are expected to identify one contemporary criminal justice policy issue and write a brief position paper on the topic.

Papers should include at least one reference citation from a Pew Center report, one government document, and one peer-reviewed journal. That is a minimum expectation.

The paper should be formatted in Microsoft Word, with one inch margins, double spaced, in Times New Roman, size 12 font. An APA-style title page and header should be used that complies with APA 7th Edition standards. NO ABSTRACT IS REQUIRED. A separate APA reference page should also be included for referenced materials, and students are expected to use the proper APA in-text citations.

The text body of the paper should be between 850 and 900 words (about 3 pages of properly double-spaced text). The text should refer to factual statements from the materials provided in the course, and other reputable (i.e., peer-reviewed or government documents) sources. The response should be informative, factual, and not overly driven by unsupported opinion statements.