High School Curriculum: Arguments for Against Death Penalty

EFFECTIVENESS OF DEATH SENTENCE
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Introduction
Decision making on death penalty cases by the jury poses a great challenge uniquely found in the typical criminal case. Jury selections in death cases are also questioned in regards to their view on the appropriate capital punishment for the purpose of discovering whether they have the ability to adhere to the law in deciding death cases or not.
Part of the qualifications of the Jury is that, they should be ready and willing to put into consideration all the sentence options which might be attached to death sentence or life imprisonment without any parole.
With this paper, I will elaborate how capital punishment can be eliminated in order to convict a suspect without the beloved relatives of the suspect undergoing unethical, physiological torture of an impending death sentence. The significant number of reasons why the death penalty is unfavorable, why the infamous capital punishment will always be a controversial issue and the number of reasons called for it to be outlawed.
Annotated Bibliography
Carrington, Frank. Neither Cruel nor Unusual. Crown Publishing, 1978.
In this book, the writer indicates that capital punishment is ineffective in planning to deter crime .This is contrary to the fact that its use is consonant with the morality of human race. The author goes ahead to describe in his book has provided a number of facts that counter the issue of death sentence cases which should be abolished and to quite the moral qualms with regards to the common public.
The is a common perception that murder is a crime that occurs due to passion, however Carrington through comprehensive research, has provided that most murder cases are part of felony attempt while others are planned .The sole problem with Carrington’s book is that its prose id ponderous .Due to that reason the book requires further support for its argument.
High School Curriculum. "Arguments for and against Death Penalty." Web.15Feb.2013. http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/arguments/arguments.PDF
This article contains arguments for and against death penalty. The resource has weighed both sides of the aspect. The first issue with regards to death penalty is deterrence, This indicates that capital punishment will prevent the number of murders in future. Testimony by Ernest Van den Haag supports this argument. The next argument is retribution. Louis P, Pojman testimony supports this argument.
The argument that is against death penalty starts by projecting any chances that the innocent individual might get accused accidently and be executed and this can be automatically infallible. Gerald Kogan testimony supports this argument in an immense way. Gerald is a former CJ of the Florida supreme court and other argument is arbitrariness and discrimination which are involved in the process of awarding capital punishment. Further evidence is backed by the testimony by Reverend Jesse L.Jackson, Sr. This is a comprehensive resource that can be useful as part of curriculum in regards to death penalty.
Bartholomew, Joe. "Capital Punishment versus Life in Prison." The Robesonian 24 May 2007: C3.
The author of this article clarifies a number of misconceptions with regards to the use of death penalty from the one state to the other. One of the major understandings in this article is that capital punishment is less effective compared to life sentence and hence should be abolished. The author provides a number of examples on how this norm is logic.
His best instance is the use of death sentence in Washington and the use of life imprisonment in Utah. The author indicates that there are 50% murder cases in Utah compared to Washington barely because of Utah’s implements life imprisonment while Washington implements death sentence.
Bartholomew says that death sentence is an ineffective deterrent to murder cases and other heinous acts especially when compared with states that use life sentence. This article is basically directed to the individuals who have been campaigning for the life imprisonment. I used this article to act as an evidence that backs my thesis that death sentence is ineffective sine it is not cost effective and does not deter crime.
"Capital Punishment." Encyclopedia Oz. 6th Ed. 2007.
The article starts by providing a definition of death sentence as the execution of a person by the government for capital crimes .The author goes on to provide an extensive historical background of cases of capital punishment and the different methods that were used .In addition the article precisely describes the 8th amendment of the United State constitution and goes on in breaking down the application of capital punishment with regards to various individuals which include: gender, race, socio-economic factors and mental stability.
While this article tends to remain neutral as to the use if death sentence, the author does not provide historical or even biblical support with regards to the use of death penalty and how it is believed to be an effective way of deter crime by the ancestors. The author precisely indicates that the use of death penalty can be traced back to the year 46 b.c where it was written as a clear directive from God (347).
The article is basically directed to people who require a general overview of Death penalty. This article is not biased but it generally has factual information. I incorporated this article to provide an insight of what death penalty really is all about .In addition I could apply some of the information as part of my introduction to my research paper in order to give background information about Death penalty.
Turow, Scott. Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the DeathPenalty. Picador, 2004.
In this article, the author dwells on the issues with regards to his experience when he was a lawyer until the time he worked with the commission that constituted by the Illinois state to look upon the capital punishment conducted by the state. The outcomes of the commission pushed the then Governor of Illinois George Ryan to terminate death penalty of 164 individuals of his last day a Governor. Turow proceeds and comments about Death penalty in between the History of America, and looks deeply at the pros and Cons of the capital punishment hence the article qualifies to be included in this curriculum
Prejean, Helen.The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2006.
In Prejean Helen’s book, she describes how a number of convicts whom she accompanied till their conviction were completely innocent and were still executed. Juries of the case were barred from important evidence, having incompetent lawyers and other irregularities were present hence leading to miscarriage of justice. Such cases have lead to the backdrop of capital punishment as a way of exercising justice; many innocent individuals might find themselves as victims of such errors and incompetent jurors.
Over the past three decades, there has been a huge number of researcher going on in regards to death cases and its impacts to the representativeness of the appropriate juries with regard to the process. In the 1980s Robert Fitzgerald and phoebe Ellsworth indicated that death cases are not usually represented by the general population. Capital cases tend to be less represented with regard to the public community due to the fact that most of the people in the society especially in America are opposed to death penalty and the cases.
In case of damages with regards to a wrongful death case there are a number of categories that need to be considered which are basically defined by two different time periods. First, the category allows recovery of all the damages experienced by the deceased from the time of the negligent act that lead to the death.
The second category indicates the losses experienced by the next of kin after the death of their loved one need to be compensated to the family survivors due to financial losses. In various states in America the law regarding death cases indicates that the damages that are incurred due to wrongful death cases intended to replace the value of money that could have been earned by the deceased especially were it not for the untimely death. This includes wages that have been lost especially the deceased anticipated death.
Some states also permit claims for loss of value money where the intermediate family members are usually deprived of the love of the deceased and companionship. This is typically important where a parent dies leaving behind children who have been deprived of the guidance from their parent. This book requires comprehensive study in order to reach to a humane conclusion with regard to the issue of capital punishment.
White, Deborah. "Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty." About.com. U.S. Liberal Politics Guide. 19 Mar 2009 .
The author discusses about a number of cases where the accused were sentenced to death the author changed and also was awarded the Nobel peace prize award .The article discusses why some countries and states do not use death sentence and the appropriate time that the penalty should be applied. The author goes on to discuss the cons of using death penalty and why it should be completely cam...