Early1

BrooklynnEarly
JohnKubler
English114A
19November,2014
AnnotatedBibliography:TheDeathPenaltyinAmerica
Aneyeforaneyeandatoothforatoothisacommonadageusedtodescriberevenge
andretribution.ThisdescribestheAmericanprisonsystemwhenitcomestothedeathpenalty.
Murderersareputondeathrow,whichistheplacethatfacilitatesprisonersthatwillsoonbe
executed.Whataboutaneyeforaneyemakesthewholeworldblind?Puttingsomeonetodeath
evenifitisforretributionmakesyounobetterthanthemurderer.Iunderstandwhythedeath
penaltyexist,butletsbehonest,theprisonsystemisnomoremorallycorrectthanthemurderers
theyaresentencingtodeathrowforexecution.Ibelievethattheonlyonethatdecidesif
someoneshouldliveordieisGod.NOONESHOULDHAVETHATRIGHTORTHE
POWERtoputsomeonetotheirdeath.
CongresshasruledthatthedeathpenaltydoesnotviolatetheEighthAmendment'sban
oncruelandunusualpunishment.InordertomakesurethattheEighthAmendmentisnotbeing
violated,executionsareaspainlessaspossible.Forexamplelethalinjectionissupposedtobe
theleastpainlesswayofexecution,however,oneofthethreechemicalsusedpreventsthe
prisonerfromdisplayingpain.Sothereisnorealevidencethatitispainless.Itisapopularbelief
thatthedeathpenaltywilldetercrime,wellobviouslyitwilldeteranyfuturecrimesfroma
murdererwhoisondeathrowheadedtoexecution.Doesthatmakeitok?Towhatextentdoes
theStatehavetoomuchpowerwhenitcomestosentencingsomeonetodeathrow?

Early2

Statisticsshowthatthedeathpenaltyismorelikelytobesentencedtominorities,What
doesthissuggestabouttheprisonsystem?
Sources
"DeathPenalty."LII/LegalInformationInstitute.CornellLawSchool,n.d.Web.17Nov.2014.
Thisarticleisalegalstandpointofthedeathpenalty.Thissourcedoesn'tstandonwhetheror
notthedeathpenaltyismoral.Ichoosethissourcebecauseisseemsunbiased.Thereare
examplesofimportantcasesthatapplytothedeathpenalty.Alsoitmentionsthatfactthejury
mustfindaggravatingandmitigatingfactorsinordertosentencesomeonetodeathrow.
Lastlythearticledescribesexceptionsinwhichaprisonerwillnotbesentencedtodeathrow,
butlifeinprison.Iwillusetheinformationfromthisarticlegivemyreaderabetterbackground
ofwhatdecisionsandfactorsplayaroleinsentencingsomeonetodeathrow.AlsoIcanuse
someofthecourtcasesmentionedtovalidatemyreasoningthatthedeathpenaltygivesthe
prisonsystemtoomuchpower.
IconOfSin24148."TheFinal24Hours."YouTube.YouTube,5Aug.2013.Web.19Nov.2014.
Thisvideoillustratesthefinaltwentyfourhoursbeforeaprisonerofdeathrowisexecuted.It
detailseverythingthathappensfromthenightbeforeexecutiontothewitnesses.Itshows
someprisonerswhoareondeathrowandsomeoftheirlastwords.Thereisalotofemotions
inthefilmtogainsympathyandevenfeelhatredtowardsmurdererswhoareondeathrow.I
willbeusingthisvideotodetailtheprocessofbeingexecutedbeforeItakemystandonthe
issue.AlsoIcanusepartsofthevideotoshowthatattheendoftheday,theseprisonersare
humanregardlessoftherightstheyhaveinprisonordeathrow,theyarehuman.Killinga
humanismurder
Meehan,Mary."TenReasonsToOpposetheDeathPenalty."AmericaStaging.America
PressInc.,n.d.Web.19Nov.2014.

Early3

MaryMeehanlistsandexplainsthetenreasonswhythedeathpenaltyshouldbeopposed.
Someoftheitemslistedincludepossibilitiesofmakingmistakesandhowitcorruptsthe
public.Iamusingthissourcetovalidatemyclaimthatthedeathpenaltyissentencedmoreto
minorities.Outof1,058prisonersondeathrowin1982,aboutfortytwopercentwereAfrican
Americanmales.Consideringthestatistic,onlytwelvepercentoftheU.S.populationis
AfricanAmericanmales.period.
Pearce,Matt,CindyCarcamo,andMayaSrikrishnan."ArizonaKillerTakes2HourstoDie,
FuelingLethalinjectionDebate."LosAngelesTimes.LosAngelesTimes,23July
2014.Web.19Nov.2014.
LATimesreportedtheexecutionofamanfromArizona,whowasconvictedofmurder.Lethal
injectionwastheformofexecutionthatwouldapplytokiller,JosephRudolphWoodIII.Ittook
abouttwohoursforWoodtobepronounceddeadafterthelethalinjection.Thecontroversy
remainswhetherornotMr.Woodsufferedforthosetwohoursandwitnessesreported
gaspingandsnortingcomingfromtheprisonerbeforehestoppedbreathing.Thisreportwill
helpsupportmyargumentbyshowingthatthereisnoguaranteethatthedeathpenaltyisnot
cruelandunusual.Thisisagreatexampleofabotchedexecutioninwhichamanwas
possiblesufferingratherthanthe"quickandpainless"deaththecourttriestoensure.