Albachiara

Nicole Albachiara
Professor Adam Padgett
English 102
1 March 2016
Bibliography
Inquiry: Is the death penalty an inhumane way to punish criminals?
Proposed Thesis: The death penalty should be used as a way to punish murderers.
Source One:
Xiaohua Zhu. Death Penalty: Another View. Economic and Political Weekly 33.19 (1998):
10711071.
In this article, the author holds a strong stance that the death penalty is necessary for having a
consequence that is great enough to decrease the amount of murders that occur within our
country. It states that many people fear the loss of an innocent life. However, he moves on to
state that the audience must consider the death penalty rationally and not be misled by
emotional demagogy. His counter argument to this seems as if he is not resolving their fear with
a rational response but rather telling them how to look at the situation. The author argues that
getting rid of the death penalty is not what we need to solve this issue and that we must better our
legal system and focus on achieving justice. Even though the article is outdated, the issues that
he touches on still stand true today.
Source Two:
Steiker, Carol S., and Jordan M. Steiker. The American Death Penalty and the (in)visibility of
Race. The University of Chicago Law Review 82.1 (2015): 243294.

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The author stands against the use of the death penalty in this article. She uses many historical
references to show how the death penalty has been corrupt for many years. Moving through
years, she focuses primarily on the unfairness against races and social classes. She states that
not only did the number of blacks executed surpass the number of whites executed during the
eighteenth century, but blacks were often executed for different crimes. By focusing back on
history, it shows how the death penalty has been unjust for years. However, I do not feel that her
argument is strong because many of these issues have been resolved with time.
Source Three:
Radelet, Micheal L., and Marian J. Borg. "The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates." Annual Review of Sociology, 26(1):43. Annual Reviews, 2000. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
This articles purpose serves to show statistics on the death penalty and how they have changed
over the years. It then moves on to discuss the arguments that people who dont support death
penalty have. For example, we must prove a point with present criminals to set a tone to scare
potential future criminals from committing murder etc. This article is credible because there are
two authors for this source, they both write for the Annual Review of Sociology. It is an
educational article written by people who have authority in the matter. They do not really show
any bias throughout because they never state a stance and really defend both sides of the issue.
Source Four:
Berns, Nancy. Contesting the Victim Card: Closure Discourse and Emotion in Death Penalty
Rhetoric. The Sociological Quarterly 50.3 (2009): 383406.
The authors main purpose is to touch on the idea of how people justify the death penalty by
showing how this gives closure to the victims family. She discusses how pro-death penalty
groups state that no innocent person has ever been sentenced. She states how people who are for

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it think that it gives closure to victims families while people who are against it are more prone to
believe innocent lives have been taken. As Berns states, by arguing that the death penalty can
bring closure and healing to crime victims families, advocates expand their emotional appeal.
By focusing on the closure that comes along with the death penalty, it helps build the emotional
aspect of the argument. The author is a credible source because of her academic achievements.
She is sociology major and has done extensive research about the issue at hand. It was published
by a textbook and has been edited and proofread by many professors and educated individuals.
Source Five:
Gross, Samuel R., and Phoebe C. Ellsworth. "Hardening of the A Itudes: Americans' Views on
the Death Penalty." University of Michigan Law School, 1994. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
This article touches on the fact that the Americas attitude towards the death penalty is at a record
high. The author also pointed out that in the past 30 years capital punishment has been
abolished in West Germany, Great Britian, Canada and France, despite majority support. The
author of this article uses statistical data to show if the majority vote should stand to have an
impact on the issue or if it should be left up to higher authorities like in those countries listed
above. He also touches on an assortment of questions that are brought up when discussing the
death penalty such as, Are there any crimes for which the death penalty is justified? The
authors of this article are credible since they are both from the University of Michigan Law
School. This article is a little outdated since it was written in 1994, however, the information is
not outdated since it is focusing on statistical information and general voting issues with the
death penalty.

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Source Six:
Drehle, David Von. "The U.S. May Have A Lot of Innocent People on Death Row." Time. Time,
n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
In this Times article, the author states that more innocent people have been sentenced to death
than previously thought. Stating that, around 120 of the roughly 3,000 inmates on death row in
America are not guilty. This shows that 4.1% of criminals sentenced to capital punishment are
innocent. It goes on to discuss how hard it is to catch wrongful convictions and the amount of
money and time that has gone into fixing the issue. The article is credible because it uses
information from Bruce Levin, who is a Columbia University professor who is a leading
authority on statistics and the law.