The Death Penalty

Introduction

When and whether it is ever appropriate to execute a human being has long been one of society's thorniest problems. Capital punishment is practiced in many countries around the world, and banned in many others. In the United States, some states almost routinely execute criminals, while other states have no death penalty laws at all. This guide is intended to assist students researching historical, ethical, and sociological aspects of the death penalty.

This Web page is intended as a guide to:

• Finding books
  
• Finding magazine & journal articles
  
• Finding Web sites
  • The Death Penalty: Pro, Con, & Evenhanded
    
  • Government Documents
    
  • Other Guides & Resources
    
• Citing information in a paper

Finding books & videos

The Library's online catalog lists books, videos, magazines, journals, and other items available at the SFCC or SCC. You can search by author, title, or subject. The keyword option is particularly useful if you aren't sure of a title or the exact Library of Congress subject heading.

Potentially useful headings include:

Capital punishment     [may discuss the U.S., but not specific to it]
Capital punishment--United States
Capital punishment--Law and Legislation
Capital punishment--Moral and Ethical Aspects

Death row
Death row inmates     [can be geographically subdivided]
Executions and executioners

African Americans--History
Lynching

If the book you want is only available at SCC's library, you can request it. Courier service between campuses is fast and efficient for items that aren't already checked out. Items requested from SCC can generally be delivered to the SFCC circulation desk overnight (except on Fridays, with delivery on Monday).

Reference sources

Also consider general reference works, the most current of which are usually located in the Reference stacks on the first floor of the Library. While these items are generally unavailable to be checked out, you are welcome to photocopy from them. You may also wish to browse similar call numbers in the second floor stacks to find sources which can be checked out.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Scholarly Journals

Daily newspapers aren't usually scholarly resources, but they can be valuable for documenting local stories and the local effects of national or international events. The SFCC Library subscribes to a variety of newspapers. Paper copies are only kept for one to two months, but older articles can sometimes be found online through services such as ProQuest Direct (see below). Newspapers on microfilm are kept behind the Reference Desk.

To find articles in magazines and scholarly research journals, you can browse current and back issues. However, it is more efficient to use an index. We recommend

ProQuest Direct
http://library.spokanefalls.edu/_auth/journal.asp

This is our best general purpose index for a broad range of articles from 1980-present; the full text of some articles is provided online. This index is available from any campus computer; students who have Internet access from home can use this index with a current student ID number. See below for tips on searching ProQuest.

Electric Library
http://library.spokanefalls.edu/_auth/journal.asp

Electric Library is aimed at K-12 students, teachers, and parents. It provides full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, book excerpts, and transcripts of selected television broadcasts. Content is rated by "reading level."

A basic search in ProQuest searches article titles, subject headings, and article descriptions for the key words you enter. You almost always get decent results as long as you don't enter too many key words. You can search more precisely, however, using standardized subject or name headings. For example, try entering any of the following, exactly as shown:

• NAME(George W. Bush)
• SUB(capital punishment)
• GEO(United States)

Be careful with subject heading searches: don't stick just any words into such a search. Searching on

SUB[death penalty]

If you want to narrow your search, you can combine these. For example:

• NAME(Bush, George W.) and SUB(capital punishment)

The most recent two or three issues of periodicals are kept on the open shelves next to the reference desk. Older issues are in storage; ask for them at the circulation desk.

World Wide Web Resources

The World Wide Web is increasingly useful for scholarly research, as long as you use it with caution.

Try to identify stable, reputable sources. Start with ones we have already selected for you (listed below). If you want to search the Web yourself, here is an excellent site which recommends various search tools for different purposes:

Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Information Needs

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

General information on search strategies is available at

"Why Can't I Find Anything I Want on the Internet?"

http://GeorgeSuttle.com/teaching/websearching/

Listed below are some sites that may be useful:

The Death Penalty: Pro, Con, and Evenhanded

ACLU Death Penalty Campaign
http://www.aclu.org/DeathPenalty/DeathPenaltyMain.cfm

From the American Civil Liberties Union

Death Penalty
http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/

Don't be put off when this site describes itself as a "High School Curriculum on the Death Penalty," because the information and presentation is first-rate. This site will be useful to anyone researching death penalty issues, in high school, college, or beyond.

The Death Penalty: a Defence
http://w1.155.telia.com/~u15525046/ny_sida_1.htm

An online book by David Anderson supportive of capital punishment. (This site may be moving to another URL, www.yesdeathpenalty.com, but as of 2/11/03, this had not happened)

Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

The Washington, D.C.-based "Death Penalty Information Center is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment."

Focus on the Death Penalty
http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/just/death/

"This site has been established by the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage as an educational resource. It is not intended to take sides in the debate on the death penalty. Rather, its purpose is to give as full a picture as possible, using existing Internet resources, of the complex issues surrounding capital punishment and its application."

International Context [of the Death Penalty]
http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/just/death/intl.html

Part of the University of Alaska site mentioned above, this includes numerous links to information about the death penalty in other countries, as well as international opinion of the United States's continued use of capital punishment.

Issues in Focus: Capital Punishment
http://www.thenewamerican.com/focus/cap_punishment/index.htm

A collection of opinion/editorial articles.

Pro-Death Penalty
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/

"This site is being developed as a resource for those searching the internet for pro-death penalty information and resources."

SCHR Death Penalty
http://schr.org/death-penalty-info/

From the Southern Center for Human Rights; see particularly the section entitled "Articles, Reports."

Government Documents

Capital Punishment Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#C

Annual statistical publications from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (U.S. Dept. of Justice); the most current available volume is for 2000 (they usually run one to two years behind); this page is also a great place to browse for other, similar publications.

The Federal Death Penalty System: a Statistical Survey (1988–2000)
http://www.usdoj.gov/dag/pubdoc/dpsurvey.html

Full text of a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, in PDF and WordPerfect formats. A followup study, "The Federal Death Penalty System: Supplementary Data, Analysis and Revised Protocols for Capital Case Review" (June 6, 2001), is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/dag/pubdoc/deathpenaltystudy.htm

Where to Find State Level Information About the Death Penalty
http://raven.ubalt.edu/staff/gibson/deathpenalty/info.htm

"Many states with a death penalty post information about their death penalty within the websites of their departments of correction or on a website maintained by the prosecutor's office. Some of these states have specific death penalty information, others have only a general site maintained by the department of corrections." See also "State By State Death Penalty Information" from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/firstpage.html

Other Guides and Resources

1000+ Death Penalty Links
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/links/dplinks.htm

A very large, annotated collection of links from Steven D. Stewart, Prosecuting Attorney for Clark County, Indiana. Mr. Stewart acknowledges his pro-death penalty stance, but the list of links does include other points of view.

Google Directory: Death Penalty
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Crime_and_Justice/Death_Penalty/

Although best known as a (very good) search engine, Google also has a directory section, with links organized by topic. This is the section containing capital punishment links (which Google files under the term "death penalty").

Yahoo Directory: Death Penalty
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Crime/Correction_and_Rehabilitation/Death_Penalty/

Similar to Google's directory of sites, this one is from Yahoo.

How to cite sources in your paper

As with any other source you use, information found on Web sites must be cited and attributed. No one really agrees yet on the best method for citing electronic and Internet sources. The two most common citation styles--the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA)--have been modified and adapted to keep track of Internet sources:

MLA Style

Citing Sources

A collection of links, handouts, and class guides dealing with citing print and online sources in MLA style

Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

A good general purpose handout from Purdue's Online Writing Center (OWL)

APA Style

Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the APA

http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html