Criminal vs. Civil
Something no one has mentioned, I don't think, is that putting a capital punishment case on the list opens up the topic to both civil and criminal cases. This is a BIG increase in the literature and something for the topic committee to discuss.
Incidentally, if you are going to put a criminal case on the topic, I would think
Terry would be more interesting than a death penalty case, wherein you would rehash much of the debates from the treaties topic. The Fourth Amendment literature on
Terry is awesome.