Annotated Bibliography: Justificationss For And Against Capital Punishment

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Jean Thumparkkul Ms. Gharibian English 10 H Period 3 30 May 2014 Justifications for and against Capital Punishment: An Annotated Bibliography Bedau, Hugo Adam, Ph.D. "The Case Against the Death Penalty." American Civil Liberties Union. 2012. Web. . Too often times, innocent lives have been wasted away through racial prejudice and societal bias. Innocent suspects of murders that capture media attention are often unlucky targets for capital punishment whose system is initially flawed. Statistics show that for every seven people sent to death row, one is innocent. Innocent lives have been wasted in prison because the case wasn’t thoroughly investigated; because the defendant wasn’t able to afford a competent legal representation; because the wisest and most experienced judges weren’t the ones making the decisions. This, coupled with the fact that society can never be free from racial prejudice and bias, makes correctly judging a capital punishment case extremely difficult. The reckless and irrational side of capital punishment is exposed through this article, presenting an inevitable flaw of the system. This allows the readers to realize that even though our judicial system appears to be just and free of bias, discrimination against minority groups still persists. This unfair favoritism towards majority groups has to be considered when forming viewpoints on capital punishment. Because many innocent lives have been put to death due to this prejudice, the unapparent flaw in the system must also be acknowledged and corrected. Although this article shows overwhelming support for the abolition of capital punishment, viewpoints on the other side are still present and ap... ... middle of paper ... ... our society are in regards to this topic. The shortage of effective drugs used for lethal injections stems up to the medical professional’s reluctance to provide the state with drugs that can do harm and possibly inflict pain on the body. Many doctors refuse to go against the Hippocratic Oath and provide the state with lethal injections. In this passionate article, the author expresses his view that because the process that leads up to capital punishment is initially flawed, capital punishment as a whole turns out to be a ‘downright embarrassment’ to the state. David Westin is the former president of ABC news. He was extremely successful in his tenure years, winning some of the most prestigious news and documentary awards for ABC. After leaving ABC news, he became the president of NewsRight from 2011 to 2012. Currently, the Principal of Witherbee Holdings, LLC.

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