Alex Hasty

Annotated Bibliography

Capital punishment. (2014). In Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (p. 1). World Book,,
Chicago.
This source goes into the history of the death penalty, ranging from the Bible to ancient Greece
capital punishment policies. The article then goes into reform movement of capital punishment,
an attempt to perhaps change the policies of the death penalty, at least make it less harsh. The
article lists out some of the methods of execution from ancient times to present day United
States. The last three sections of the article talk in regards to arguments about the death penalty
and whether or not it is effective.
I would consider this to be a very reliable source because it is an encyclopedia. This article
contains many of the points I will be using in my paper. For me, this will be one of my most
valuable resources.

Von Drehle, D. (2015). Bungled executions. Backlogged courts. And three more reasons the
modern death penalty is a failed experiment. Time, 185(21), 26-33. Retrieved September 23,
2015, from MAS Ultra - School Edition.
This source is talking about the failed attempts that the death penalty made to make America a
better place. It begins with the case and public opinion for the execution of Dzhokhar Tsarnev,
the man who performed the Boston Marathon bombing. The article is explaining the public
opinion of executing him. This source outlines the effect the death penalty has had on America
and whether or not it has had a positive impact, or done anything. The author speaks on the
problems of the troubled death penalty system.
This article was posted by Time magazine so I feel as though it is very credible. The general
audience of this source would be scholarly adults wanting to learn about the death penalty. This
source will be perfect for my paper as I have a whole section that is about the U.S. public
opinion of the death penalty. The article also lists statistics of public approval on the death
penalty.

Smith, J. (2015). There is blood, a lot of blood, very red blood. Chronicle of Higher Education,
61(42), B14-B17. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from MasterFILE Premier.
This journal provides the current methods of the death penalty, in great detail. Detail is a major
factor with this source. A major topic is about the morality of the death penalty and how in the

past there has been instances where the death penalty went horribly wrong. This source also
goes into the history of the death penalty dating back to Europe when they used the guillotine.
This source is for scholars as it is found in the Chronicle for Higher Education. This will work
well in my paper. The material in this article relates to my topic well, it will work perfect in my
methods and public scrutiny section of my essay.

Hamilton, A. (2014). No defense for the death penalty. The Journal Record. Retrieved
September 18, 2015, from Regional Business News.
This article is basically scrutinizing the death penalty in every way. It mainly talks about the cost
of death penalty when it comes to court fees fighting the case as well as actually performing the
execution. The article argues that it is financially smarter to just keep someone incarcerated for
their entire life rather than execute them.
This article is directed at scholars learning about the financial impact of the death penalty. It will
be very useful in my paper as I have a section regarding the financial implications of the death
penalty. The data and contents of the article will be very useful to me.

Salter, J., & Welsh-Huggins, A. (2014). Secrecy surrounds execution drugs in US states. AP
English Worldstream. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from Newspaper Source Plus.
This source is about the secrecy regarding the drugs that are used during lethal injection and
how it is actually done, where it comes from. According to the article, 32 death penalty states in
the U.S. refuse to release what kind of drugs they use for lethal injections. This causes people to
be very suspicious of what actually happens when someone is executed.
This comes from a fairly credible source so I think it is safe to use it. However, it seems to rely
more on suspicion and theory rather than on factual information. I will probably be able to use
few parts in this article.

Elias, P. (2012). Calif. death penalty opponents say it's too costly. Retrieved September 21,
2015, from Newspaper Source Plus.
This source is based on Californias financial impacts of the death penalty. The article goes into
detail regarding the cost of prosecuting and executing someone, as well as the price of
incarceration for life. The numbers show that it is actually more cost effective to send someone

to prison for their life. Proposition 34 is the movement to repeal the death penalty from
California, and rather sentence those criminals to life in prison without parole.
I will definitely be using this source quite a bit, however I will not be able to make it the headline
of my financial impact section because it is only in regards to California, not the rest of the
United States. This is an article that is meant for the general public and the voters that will be
voting on whether or not to pass this into California law.

Banner, S. (2002). The death penalty: An American history. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press.
This is a book that goes into the American history of the death penalty. It begins by talking about
the laws that we had adopted from Europe when the very first settlers came to America. The
author talks about how our past methods have evolved into what the death penalty is today. He
outlines the different crimes that used to be punishable by death. Something like robbery would
likely be means to execute the criminal.
This is a very credible book, it was published by Harvard. Although it is 13 years old, history
hasn't changed and all of this will be extremely relevant to my topic. The book is likely speaking
to an audience of scholars rather than general readers.

Miller, M. (2007). Religious characteristics and the death penalty. Law and Human Behavior, 32,
113-123. Retrieved September 21, 2015, from MEDLINE.
This was a very interesting article that talked about different religious perspectives on the death
penalty. Miller begins the journal talking about death penalty trials. He states that jurors can be
dismissed based on whether or not they can set aside their religious perspectives and only view
the case based on facts. The journal goes into Gods view on murderers and what a hard core
Christian would think regarding the death penalty being imposed on a murderer. A study was
done for this by using a mock trial in which they analyzed and observed participants.
This is a very credible source. The author is a professor with credentials in Criminal Justice and
Human Psychology. The audience is likely scholars. It will be very useful and relevant to my
topic and I will use it frequently under my religious perspective section of my essay.

Reggio, M. (1997). History of the death penalty. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
This is an article posted by PBS. It is a simple article regarding the whole history of the death
penalty. The dates go as far back as China in 18th century B.C. and leads up to present day.
Reggio talks about the methods of execution throughout each era and how each came to be.

Everything dating that far back, they have used evidence and clues found in certain parts of the
world where they speculate the death penalty was used.
I would say this article will be of use to me. The audience is scholars. It really is just one big
history lesson on the death penalty. Even though it is from 1997, I still feel as though I will be
able to utilize some of the material in this article. As long as I can validate the information, this
source will be very prominent in my essay in the Historical section of my paper.

Davis, K. (2015). Faith and fiscal responsibility cause many conservatives to change their view
of the death penalty. ABA Journal, 1-4.
The article discusses how religious faith and financial impacts are causing many conservative
politicians to change their views about capital punishment. The article also discusses a man that
was in prison for 31 years before finally being let out under new evidence that proved his
innocence. Attitudes on the death penalty are analyzed, along with laws, life in prison
sentences, and incarceration costs compared to execution in America.
This will be a great article for me to utilize. The audience for this credible article is mostly
scholars. I will be able to use this in my religious, financial, and wrongly convicted section of my
essay. This will be a very useful and prominent source for my essay.