Death Penalty Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Aronson, Jay D., and Simon A. Cole. “Science And The Death Penalty: DNA, Innocence, And The Debate Over Capital Punishment In The United States.” Law & Social Inquiry 2009, pp. 603-633. Academic Search Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=43649701&site=ehost-live.

Jay D. Aronson and Simon A. Cole’s article “Science and the Death Penalty: DNA, Innocence, and the Debate over Capital Punishment in the United States,” (2009) proposes that the death penalty needs to be abolished because of the permanence of capital punishment. The authors support this claim with evidence of the innocence revolution based on science. This is shown when they cite multiple studies conducted by accredited biochemists

Radelet writes the article titled “The Incremental Retributive Impact Of A Death Sentence Over Life Without Parole” (2016) to explain that the distress and miseries which are experienced by death row inmates and their relatives. He worked with over 50 Florida inmates during their last nights, as well is with the families after the execution, to study and collect evidence about the psychological impacts of capital punishment. He concluded that the retributive impacts of the death penalty for the inmate’s family include guilt, anger, isolation, shame, and a stigma. Radelet collected this information in order to conclude that the death penalty causes significant and negative impacts on the inmate’s relatives. Radelet, who has a PhD in sociology, is currently a professor of sociology at University of Colorado at Boulder, and has also worked at schools of law. This author studied in depth the behaviors of death row inmates and their relatives. The real experiences that this author provides are reliable because they are primary sources that account for the event as it was occurring. Despite all the negative impacts that Radelet finds while studying these inmates, he is able to acknowledge the counter argument. This is shown when he considers the positives of the death penalty, such as the elimination of a dangerous or mentally ill criminal. As a result of the positives and negatives that the author presents, I am not missing vital information regarding the effectiveness of the death penalty as a punishment. Overall, the author’s credentials and content of his article create a credible source about the effectiveness of the death penalty. I will use his article because of its valuable evidence on the psychological impacts of the death penalty. The evidence that this author provides will be allow me to consider all the impacts of the death penalty and whether or not it is still an effective punishment. Similarly, the other sources that I have will be corroborated