Whitney Sullivan

October 6, 2009
Wilkerson
Annotated Bibliography

Capital Punishment: “To kill or not to kill, that is the question”

1."Saving Lives and Money; The Death Penalty." The Economist 14 Mar. 2009: 1-2. Web.
LexisNexis. Cooper Library. 30 Sep. 2009
<http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.lib.clemson.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docvie
w.do?
docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T7495247735&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startD
ocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T7495247738&cisb
The article specifically addresses the monetary costs of the death penalty during the United
States recession. The author points out that the death penalty actually weighs on the taxpayers’
pockets more than a life sentence. The argument is supported with an estimate of how much the
citizens of Maryland are paying to keep capital punishment in the state alive. The author also
mentions that the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Hampshire and Mew Mexico are considering
abolishing the death penalty for cost reasons. The article also goes into as much depth to state
that Colorado would use the money saved from extinguishing capital punishment to create an
investigation unit. I plan to use this article to support a segment of my thesis which claims that
capital punishment is costly and economically ignorant. By incorporating this article into my
paper, I will be able to build upon kiaros because the article is as recent as March 14, 2009 and
the research assignment is due November 2009.

2. Thomas, Evan, Martha Brant, Stuart Taylor Jr, Raina Kelly et al. "Injection Reflection; There's
wide support for a death penalty, but those who carry it out are increasingly
uncomfortable." Newsweek 19 Nov. 2007: 40. Web. LexisNexis. Cooper Library. 30 Sep.
2009
<http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.lib.clemson.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docvie
w.do?
docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T7495247735&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startD
ocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T7495247738&cisb
The article from the Newsweek delves into the reasons why the jurors and prosecutors
responsible for carrying out the death penalty are becoming increasingly constrained in sending
people to death row. The authors explained that this is a result of jurors and prosecutors being
worried about killing an innocent person and that their fear in crime has subsided. The article
states, “What is acceptable in theory seems less and less tolerable in practice.” The statement is
supported with numerous facts ranging from the number of people exonerated because of DNA
testing to two incidents in which the legal injection process was not completed properly. The
article also relates to "Saving Lives and Money; The Death Penalty" because they both discuss
the monetary problems with capital punishment. The authors also included that some people feel
as if the death penalty violates the Constitution’s eighth amendment of “cruel and unusual
punishment.” This is an angle that I can use to enhance my argument that I did not previously
think of. I will be able to integrate the information and statistics presented in the article to
support my claim that capital punishment is morally ignorant and inhumane.

3. "The American Way of Death; A botched execution in Ohio should quicken the end of capital
punishment." Editorial. The Times 17 Sep. 2007, 1 ed.: 2. 40. Web. Academic Search
Premier. Cooper Library. 24 Sep. 2009.

The article focuses on an execution in Ohio in which the technicians had to prolong a man’s
execution for two hours to find a sturdy vein. The article also points out that America is the only
big democracy that carries out the death penalty. After exploiting these two facts, the author
makes the United States seem stuck in the dark ages when it comes to this particular choice of
disciplinary action. I will be able to use the argument to show how capital punishment negatively
affects the country’s image to other nations. The article relates to “Injection Reflection; There's
wide support for a death penalty, but those who carry it out are increasingly uncomfortable”
because it brings up the question of whether it abuses the eighth amendment. The main problem
is that the author’s sour disposition towards the death penalty combined with the fact that the
newspaper is from a capital punishment free country makes the author seem biased.

4. Miller, Karen S. Wrongful Capital Convictions and the Legitimacy of the Death Penalty. New
York: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2006.

In the book, Miller analyzes the “Legitimation Crisis” and “Relegitimizing” surrounding the
death penalty. The book goes into great detail in how the government and the media portray
capital punishment to the public in order to make it seem like a necessary function of the
American society. The section of the book that I find the most interesting and will be
incorporating information from is the different case summaries in which people were exonerated
from death row. I plan on referring to these different case studies to help establish my credibility
and explain that the death penalty should be abolished because the chance of murdering an
innocent person is too high. The book ties into the articles “Saving Lives and Money; the Death
Penalty” and “Injection Reflection; There's wide support for a death penalty, but those who carry
it out are increasingly uncomfortable” because they all refer to the fact that there have been
innocent people in the past who have been sentenced with the death penalty.

5. Kronenwetter, Michael. Capital Punishment. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc,

1993.

The book by Kronewetter focuses on different aspects of the argument against capital
punishment. The book provides sub chapters that answers questions that many people may have
regarding moral issues as well as common questions that are often brought up including, “Does
the death penalty really deter crime?” The book also provides historical information regarding
the origin and progression of the death penalty. The book goes into different reasons why capital
punishment should be abolished which will help me further develop my own argument. I also
plan on utilizing the “Facts and Documents” section that analyzes areas such as the constitution
and biblical references to capital punishment. This information will prove to be extremely
helpful in all aspects of developing my argument.

6. Foden, Glenn. "Death Penalty-US." CartoonStock. 9 Sep. 2009

http://www.cartoonstock.com/news
cartoons/cartoonview.asp?
catref=gfon223>.
The image depicts a fictional satan’s view of capital punishment. The cartoon makes a statement
that the death penalty is morally wrong because it pleases the devil twice as much when a person
is sentenced to the death penalty and executed by the state. It creates an argument that killing
someone, regardless of how, is murder and murder is against the sixth commandment. The image
relies on pathos and evokes a religious sense of responsibility to follow God’s law. I will be able
to incorporate this image into my paper and use this to support my argument that capital
punishment is morally wrong and defies the Ten Commandments. I can also use the image to
refute pro capital punishment articles that rely on biblical references.
7. Luckovich, Mike. "Capital Punishment." CartoonStock. 9 Sep. 2009
<http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.
com/2008/05/appeal_capital_punish
ment.jpg>.
The image depicts a man sentenced to the death penalty attempting to get an appeal. The cartoon
judge in the picture is portrayed as being nonchalant to the convict’s plea. The cartoon comments
on a different aspect of the argument in which many times, people do not get a fair trial because
they are not properly represented. Due to this, the author makes it seem as if they are
automatically sentenced to death without proper representation. This is a strong point for my
argument because if people accused of these crimes do not receive or can afford good
representation, then their chance of being found guilty and sentenced to death row is increasingly
higher. I can incorporate this into my paper by explaining how inadequate representation is could
possibly send an innocent person to death row.