Capital Punishment
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The following guide provides Web site
links, a list of selected books, and access to online periodical articles about
this subject. The Web site links have been researched, evaluated, and annotated
by Rio Hondo College Librarians. The Librarians have specifically selected these
Web sites to meet the research needs of Rio Hondo College students
Web Site Links
American
Civil Liberties Union - Death Penalty
http://www.aclu.org/capital/index.html
This abolitionist site contains articles on various aspects of the death
penalty, particularly lethal injection, race and death penalty, habeas reform,
and the execution of innocent people. A searchable database of ACLU news
articles in also available. Extensive links to other death penalty sites.
Angel on
Death Row
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/
Pro and
con arguments, interviews, cases, and a death penalty chronology are presented.
Based on "The real life cases in Dead Man Walking."
Capital
Punishment Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm
From
the Bureau of Justice Statistics--the Annual BJS Capital Punishment Bulletin gives
prisoner characteristics and movement on death sentence status ; statistics on
race, executions, prisoners awaiting execution, and correctional populations are
also included.
Death
Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
Site maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group
serving the media and public on issues concerning capital punishment. Click on
"Information Topics" on the page to find up-to-date facts and figures, a list of
executions, the cost of executions, etc.
Death
Penalty Information Web Site
http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/index.html
Arguments
for and against the death penalty, the stages in a capital case, history,
methods of execution, state-by-state data, courtroom cases and additional
links. Excellent site from Michigan State University.
Death Penalty News and
Updates http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/
Includes information on current executions in the United States, death
penalty-related news, statistics on executions by state, statistical summaries,
and more. The site is against the death penalty and provides information
on contacting U.S. law makers and on actions regarding the death penalty.
Derechos
Human Rights-Death Penalty Links
http://www.derechos.org/dp/
Derechos
Human Rights is a human rights organization maintaining a site that has regional
information, pro death penalty arguments, abolition information, and a list of
countries that have the death penalty (dated August 1997).
The High
Cost of the Death Penalty to Taxpayers
http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42
The group
Death Penalty Focus of California has calculated the cost of the death penalty
in Los Angeles County.
Online Databases
(Rio Hondo Students only)Gale Virtual Reference Library http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/cclc_rio?db=GVRL
An interesting database that provides chapters on the subject from various
perspectives, including historical and constitutional.
Health and Wellness Resource Center http://find.galegroup.com/menu/start?userGroupName=cclc_rio&prod=HWRC-2
This database provides a medical perspective about the subject and addresses
the issue of doctors being involved in the process.
Issue &
Controversies @ Facts.com
http://www.2facts.com
This database currently has "Lethal Injection" listed as one
of its Issues in the Headlines, as well as other information
found by searching for the subject.
SIRS http://sks.sirs.com
This database already has 'capital punishment' selected
as one of its 'leading issues' topics and further breaks it down
into categories such as, religious aspects, juveniles, economic
aspects and statistics.
Books
The following books can be located in
the Rio Hondo College Library.
Death penalty on trial : a handbook with cases, laws,
and documents (ABC-CLIO's on trial series)
Call number: Ref KF9227.C2G47 2005
Encyclopedia of capital
punishment
Call number: Ref HV8694.G76 1998
Encyclopedia of crime &
justice
Call number: Ref HV6017.E52 2002
Encyclopedia of crime and punishment
Call number: Ref HV6017.E524 2002
Illustrated great decisions of the Supreme Court
Call number: Ref KF4549.M334 2006
Macmillan encyclopedia of death and dying
Call number: Ref HQ1073.M33 2003
Problems with death
Call number: Ref HQ1073.5.U6P76 2006
West’s encyclopedia of
American law
Call number: Ref KF154.W47 2005
Suggested Subject Headings
For additional titles on this topic at Rio Hondo, click on the
following Library of Congress subject headings:
Capital punishment--Moral and ethical aspects
Media
The following media can be located in the Rio Hondo College Library,
to be viewed in the Library.
Dead man walking
Call number: Video 001101
Honoring the request of a lonely and desperate man, Sister Helen Prejean writes
to Matthew Poncelet, the condemned killer of two teenage lovers, and is wholly
unprepared for the relationship which follows. When the date is set for
Matthew's execution, he asks Sister Helen to be his spiritual advisor and she
complies. As she comes to see the terrfied human beneath Matt's brash,
unrepentant facade, she becomes increasingly disturbed, not only by his terrible
anguish, but also by the rage of the victims' families. With the clock ticking
away his final days, she struggles for the life, dignity and soul of a confused
and angry man. It is her faith and courage that sustains her when she stands
with Matthew and with the victims' families.
The death penalty : right or wrong?
(NewsMatters)
Call number: Video 001221
Designed to encourage students to question and contemplate the issues involved
in capital punishment.
The execution
Call number: Video 000499
Explores capital punishment through the story of Clifford Boggess, a
30-year-old who spent almost a decade on death row. In the United
States, executions have become almost routine, especially in Texas,
where Boggess, a pianist, artist, class valedictorian and convicted
murderer awaited the execution chamber. And while he waited, the
families of his two victims impatiently awaited his death in June
1998.
Articles
The Rio Hondo College Library
provides online access to full-text articles through our
online databases -
http://library.riohondo.edu/online_databases/index.htm. Please note: you must be a Rio Hondo College
student, faculty, staff or board member to use these services.
The 3 sample searches
below are from the
ProQuest database.
Use Advanced Search and type each term in a separate box:
1.
SU(capital punishment) [from
Peer-Reviewed Journals]
2.
SU(capital punishment) AND SU(criminal sentences)
[from Peer-Reviewed Journals]
3.
SU(capital punishment) AND SU(supreme court decisions)
[from Peer-Reviewed Journals]
Researched and evaluated by:
D. Yashar, Librarian 12/1997
last update: D. Yashar, Librarian 8/2008