Annotated Bibliography Unrevised
This bibliography was created during research I made regarding the death penalty. The books I summarized were selected from the Shatford Library here at PCC. Each book had relevance to my topic which was the Death Penalty. The information I obtained from these books were highly beneficial in my research paper and helped me support my claims.
Revised Bibliography
1. “ Anything but Humane”. Amnesty International U.S.A. Web.18. Nov. 2015
Capital punishment has many risks due to the fact that humans are error- prone; increasing the risk of executing an innocent person cannot be eliminated. The common form of execution through lethal injection is certainly not humane considering that it has been shown to cause excruciating pain. In certain cases executions have ranged from 20 minutes to an hour in attempts to kill the prisoner.
Because humans are prone to make mistakes it is a risky process when enforcing the death penalty. Once the government has completed an execution the life of the prisoner cannot be brought back and the family will never be compensated with any amount of money given to them. This risk of a wrongful condemnation of a prisoner is not worth it and therefore the death penalty should not be practiced due to its flaws.
2. Eckholm, Erik. “Federal appeals panel overturns anti death penalty ruling in California”. New York Times. 12 Nov.20015. New York ed. Web
The Federal District judge held that California’s multistage system for reviewing death sentences is full of delays and flaws that consequently violate the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment to set backs of appointing lawyers and lethal drug protocols. The few that are executed have been selected randomly. On Thursday a 3-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the 2014 decision was improper and overturned it.
This article goes to show that the death penalty should be abolished due to the flaws it possesses. The delays made in the justice system regarding death penalty sentences are outstanding. In addition those who are executed are only a random few, this type of selection makes it unfair and unjust to other prisoners being held on death row.
3. Gazzaniga, Michael. “ Toward a Universal Ethics.” A World of Ideas : Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee. A. Jacobus. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2013. 417-418. Print
According to Gazzaniga, our genes stem from our ancestors who lived 5,000 generations before us. He claims that our genes are relatively the same as those original ancestors. He describes humans as “Big animals” whose key goal was survival which affects moral judgment. Gazzaniga asserts that morality and ethics are a part of nature and also points to evolution as the source of our moral and ethical judgments.
Gazzaniga’s essay takes human morality and the decisions we make into a different perspective. Are humans born good or bad? Are we born with a clean slate on which the environment we are raised in affect the decisions we make? In cases in which the convicted has committed murder we should take into consideration the environment the person grew up in. I am not agreeing that anyone who kills should be able to get away with what they have done, but the death sentence should be made only when thorough research has been done on the accused. The prisoner’s background, what they did, and also the conditions they were faced in order to commit a crime such as murder. These considerations should play a valuable part in the proceedings for a sentence such as life or death penalty.
4. Reichard, Mary. “ High Court hears death penalty and sentencing guideline cases”. WORLD. Oct 2015. Web
In the past decades the perspectives regarding the enforcement of the death penalty have changed. Ten years ago justices barred the death penalty for minors who committed crimes. Only five years ago the sentence “ life without parole ” was banned unless an act of murder was involved. In most recent years the government has blocked future mandatory life sentences for crimes including of murder. In the last week, the court pleads by; 69 year old Henry Montgomery who has been incarcerated for more than 5 decades presented his case to the judge. Montgomery was convicted and charged with a life sentence for the murder of a police officer in 1963. Montgomery was 17 at the time making him a minor. Montgomery now intends to plea that the recent ruling that do not allow a mandatory life sentence be given to minors should be retroactively applied to his case.
This article was beneficiary in my research concerning the death penalty. The enforcement of the death penalty sentence and life sentence is always being altered and tweaked in the government. Those who committed crimes before these alterations were being made now plea for their case to be appealed to yet another time in chances of new law statures to be applied to their case.
5. Shetty, Sail. “ The value of International Standards Campaign for abolition of the death penalty”. Brown Journal of World Affairs. 21.1.2014 41-56. Academic Search Premier. Web.17.2015
After multiple execution mishaps in U.S prisons, European pharmaceutical companies have refused to provide the drugs needed to carry out execution and has led to a lethal drug shortage. Because of this drug shortage U.S prions have turned to illegally acquiring the drugs from unknown origins. Due to the use of illegal drug administration required to complete an execution several have been mismanaged leading to disastrous outcomes. In addition, states have been forced to stop executions while the courts sort the legality in lethal drugs protocols.
Through this article one can conclude that the claims the government makes concerning the death penalty by asserting that it is quick and painless is false. The administration of non-legalized drugs leads to disastrous consequences to the prisoner therefore violating the 8th amendment of cruel and unusual punishment.
Capital punishment has many risks due to the fact that humans are error- prone; increasing the risk of executing an innocent person cannot be eliminated. The common form of execution through lethal injection is certainly not humane considering that it has been shown to cause excruciating pain. In certain cases executions have ranged from 20 minutes to an hour in attempts to kill the prisoner.
Because humans are prone to make mistakes it is a risky process when enforcing the death penalty. Once the government has completed an execution the life of the prisoner cannot be brought back and the family will never be compensated with any amount of money given to them. This risk of a wrongful condemnation of a prisoner is not worth it and therefore the death penalty should not be practiced due to its flaws.
2. Eckholm, Erik. “Federal appeals panel overturns anti death penalty ruling in California”. New York Times. 12 Nov.20015. New York ed. Web
The Federal District judge held that California’s multistage system for reviewing death sentences is full of delays and flaws that consequently violate the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment to set backs of appointing lawyers and lethal drug protocols. The few that are executed have been selected randomly. On Thursday a 3-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the 2014 decision was improper and overturned it.
This article goes to show that the death penalty should be abolished due to the flaws it possesses. The delays made in the justice system regarding death penalty sentences are outstanding. In addition those who are executed are only a random few, this type of selection makes it unfair and unjust to other prisoners being held on death row.
3. Gazzaniga, Michael. “ Toward a Universal Ethics.” A World of Ideas : Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee. A. Jacobus. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2013. 417-418. Print
According to Gazzaniga, our genes stem from our ancestors who lived 5,000 generations before us. He claims that our genes are relatively the same as those original ancestors. He describes humans as “Big animals” whose key goal was survival which affects moral judgment. Gazzaniga asserts that morality and ethics are a part of nature and also points to evolution as the source of our moral and ethical judgments.
Gazzaniga’s essay takes human morality and the decisions we make into a different perspective. Are humans born good or bad? Are we born with a clean slate on which the environment we are raised in affect the decisions we make? In cases in which the convicted has committed murder we should take into consideration the environment the person grew up in. I am not agreeing that anyone who kills should be able to get away with what they have done, but the death sentence should be made only when thorough research has been done on the accused. The prisoner’s background, what they did, and also the conditions they were faced in order to commit a crime such as murder. These considerations should play a valuable part in the proceedings for a sentence such as life or death penalty.
4. Reichard, Mary. “ High Court hears death penalty and sentencing guideline cases”. WORLD. Oct 2015. Web
In the past decades the perspectives regarding the enforcement of the death penalty have changed. Ten years ago justices barred the death penalty for minors who committed crimes. Only five years ago the sentence “ life without parole ” was banned unless an act of murder was involved. In most recent years the government has blocked future mandatory life sentences for crimes including of murder. In the last week, the court pleads by; 69 year old Henry Montgomery who has been incarcerated for more than 5 decades presented his case to the judge. Montgomery was convicted and charged with a life sentence for the murder of a police officer in 1963. Montgomery was 17 at the time making him a minor. Montgomery now intends to plea that the recent ruling that do not allow a mandatory life sentence be given to minors should be retroactively applied to his case.
This article was beneficiary in my research concerning the death penalty. The enforcement of the death penalty sentence and life sentence is always being altered and tweaked in the government. Those who committed crimes before these alterations were being made now plea for their case to be appealed to yet another time in chances of new law statures to be applied to their case.
5. Shetty, Sail. “ The value of International Standards Campaign for abolition of the death penalty”. Brown Journal of World Affairs. 21.1.2014 41-56. Academic Search Premier. Web.17.2015
After multiple execution mishaps in U.S prisons, European pharmaceutical companies have refused to provide the drugs needed to carry out execution and has led to a lethal drug shortage. Because of this drug shortage U.S prions have turned to illegally acquiring the drugs from unknown origins. Due to the use of illegal drug administration required to complete an execution several have been mismanaged leading to disastrous outcomes. In addition, states have been forced to stop executions while the courts sort the legality in lethal drugs protocols.
Through this article one can conclude that the claims the government makes concerning the death penalty by asserting that it is quick and painless is false. The administration of non-legalized drugs leads to disastrous consequences to the prisoner therefore violating the 8th amendment of cruel and unusual punishment.