Death Penalty Annotated Bibliography
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Death Penalty Annotated Bibliography
Assignment One
Research Topic
The selected topic is the death penalty which describes capital punishment whose popularity is on the decline in developing countries. However, the death penalty is still common in some countries while others do not provide information on the number of people they have executed. Current research studies focus on the decline in the number of people who are executed annually. The abolition of the death penalty is expected to change the entire criminal justice system since criminals would be subjected to alternative forms of punishment. It would also impact other countries that are still undecided on ending the death penalty.
Annotated Bibliography
Garrett, B. L., Jakubow, A., & Desai, A. (2017). The American death penalty decline. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 107, 561.
The study shows that the death penalty has declined significantly in America with only a few counties and states upholding it currently. Studies compare the death penalty sentences across the year to demonstrate the decline. In the mid-1900s over 300 people were on death row while in 2015 there were 51 offenders while 31 were sentenced in 2016. The article poses a major question on why some counties and states still uphold death sentences. Research also shows that the death population is associated with states with a high population of Black Americans. Therefore, the study seeks to argue whether the death penalty is objective or biased. However, the article shows that the rate of the death penalty is on decline thus showing hope that states will adopt alternative punishment methods.
Johnson, D. T. (2019). A Factful Perspective on Capital Punishment. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 11(2), 334-345.
The article states that the rate of capital punishment has slowed down over the years across the globe. According to the article, nations have adopted other forms of punishment since 2000. It also explains the factors that have led to the decline of capital punishment cases. They include political leadership and human rights advocacy. Political leadership in the United States and other European countries has changed across the years leading to a change of mindset regarding capital punishment. Criminal justice systems have also evolved leading to the formulation of better policies that have led to the decline of capital punishment. Although nations are currently facing various obstacles, there is a need to eliminate them to allow the decline of the punishment.
Steiker, C. S., & Steiker, J. M. (2020). The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of the Death Penalty in the United States. Annual Review of Criminology, 3, 299-315.
The study provides a review of issues in the era of modern death punishment in the United States. One of the main issues under review is why the United States continues to uphold the death penalty while other equally developed countries have abolished it. The article also describes the role of race in shaping the path to ending capital punishment. The role of race is important in the United States, especially where high cases of the death penalty are recorded among the black communities and minimal among the whites. Race-based slavery and discrimination play a major role in the future of the death penalty. The article reviews the significance of a withering rate of the death penalty over the past two decades. The final perspective of the article is the impact of ending the death penalty to the criminal justice system.
The Lancet. (2017). Achieving progress on ending the death penalty. Lancet (London, England), 389(10079), 1581.
The article provides the major developments that the world has realized in ending the cases of the death penalty. It offers a decision of the United Nations in 2016 to abolish the death penalty as part of the efforts to uphold human rights. The Sixth Resolution had support 117 nations while 32 abstained and 40 voted against it. Although there is no consensus on the issue of capital punishment, the trend has been gaining momentum. According to the article, Amnesty International released a report on 2017 indicating that the death penalty across the world was on a decline. Therefore, countries are supporting the elimination of a punishment that is against human rights. Statistics across the world indicate that the cases of judicial execution decreased by 37 percent between 2016 and 2015. Although the data is incomplete since countries such as China do not release such information, it is promising that countries are continuing to abolish the death penalty.
Vito, G. F., Higgins, G. E., & Vito, A. G. (2018). Kentuckian’s Attitudes on Capital Punishment, 1989–2016. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(4), 861-870.
Attitudes towards the death penalty are changing due to the availability of life without parole. The study focuses on the attitudes of Kentuckians towards the death penalty. The findings indicate that life without parole is better compared to capital punishment. A change of attitudes is affected by the alternatives available for punishing individuals with capital offenses. The findings relied on data from 1986 to 2016. They indicate that people prefer life without parole compared to the death penalty which contravenes human rights. Activists indicate that life is sacred and only the giver of it should take it away. The study shows promising statistics over the changing perspectives and attitudes towards and their preferences towards a life without parole. Other nations that are abolishing capital punishment are embracing measures that will not trigger human rights issues or an inhumane way of treating people.
Assignment Two
Literature Review
The focus is to of the study is to examine the changing patterns across the globe that have led to fewer cases of judicial executions. It also shows that more countries are embracing alternative methods of punishing offenders. The rise in the role of activists also impacts the perspectives and attitudes of the public towards the death penalty.
Declining Rates
Garrett et al. (2017) demonstrate that the rate of the death penalty is on the decline in America. Similarly, Johnson (2019) argues that the statistics are also on a decline across the world. The reason is that various countries are abolishing judicial executions and embracing other methods. Additionally, Steiker and Steiker (2020) indicate that although the rates are declining, the United States is not abolishing judicial executions yet other developed and developing countries have embraced other methods of punishing offenders. Garrett et al. (2017), also describe the role of race and political leadership in shaping the path to ending capital punishment. Therefore, a change in attitude towards capital punishment will influence the future of the death penalty.
Changing Attitudes
Vito et al. (2018) argue that the attitudes of Kentuckians towards capital punishment are changing. A large population is embracing life without parole which is better compared to capital punishment. It also indicates that the changing attitudes are both among the nations under the United Nations Umbrella. According to The Lancet (2017) report, 117 countries voted to support the abolition of death punishment while only 40 members voted against the changes. The statistics indicate there is a bright future globally. Steiker and Steiker (2020) also portray the life and fall of the death penalty in the United States. The rise and fall are due to changing perspectives and human rights activism. The reason is that a large percentage of the executions occur in regions where the African-American communities are highly concentrated. Therefore, it is deemed as a fight against minority groups.
Conclusion
The rate of the death penalty across the world is decreasing with America leading the way. Countries across the world according to a UN report shows that they are abolishing capital punishment. The causes for the change is a shift in the mindset that the punishment is cruel and better alternatives are available. In the United States, life without parole has received more support compared to capital punishment. The declining rate of judicial executions provides a glimmer of hope that the future is brighter. Although data from countries such as China is unavailable, Amnesty International demonstrates that countries are adopting alternative methods of punishing offenders. The factors affecting a decline include political leadership and human rights activism which influence changes in the criminal justice system by developing better policies.
The focus of the study is to examine the effect of changing attitudes towards the death penalty and the decline of judicial executions on the criminal justice system across the world. The dependent variable is changing attitudes towards the death penalty and the decline of judicial execution while the independent variable is the criminal justice system.
