How can I use my current information I have:

Resources

History of Death penalty
https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/history/

Con(abolish it)
Death Penalty Research

Learning to kill: Past patterns of death penalty increase likelihood of conviction

https://go-gale-com.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Journals&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&retrievalId=5965195c-204d-460a-926d-86395eb7ffb7&hitCount=49&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=12&docId=GALE%7CA639628529&docType=Report&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-MOD1&prodId=OVIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA639628529&searchId=R5&userGroupName=full44847&inPS=true

Baumgartner, Frank R., et al. "Learning to kill: Why a small handful of counties generates the bulk of US death sentences." PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 10, 27 Oct. 2020, p. e0240401. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, dx.doi.org.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240401. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

-”Those counties going down the path of increasing use come disproportionately from places with histories of lynching in the Jim Crow period and with higher rates of racial competition.”

-- “The number of death sentences is only loosely related to the number of homicides. The better predictor of whether a given county will sentence an individual to death in a given year is not the number of homicides in that county in the previous year, but rather the number of death sentences that county has previously imposed.”

-- “Localities either get good at the complex process of bringing a capital case to its conclusion, or they do not. Once an office assembles a staff that has handled a capital trial, it draws upon this capacity to pursue the death penalty in subsequent cases, which further augments the office’s institutional capacity to pursue the death penalty.”

Racial discrimination/Comprehension issues
https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=2f9ee44b-b387-4b58-962d-bdc3a6930233%40redis

-By far the most common penalty phase instructional model requires jurors to “weigh” so-called “aggravating” factors against “mitigating” factors to arrive at a sentencing decision. Unfortunately, the judicial instructions that accompany this model have the potential to confuse jurors in several ways….Even confused capital jurors must render verdicts, however, and they may end up relying on a brand of “commonsense justice”...Preexisting stereotypes, schemas, and even prejudices about crime causation, criminal responsibility, race, and class can influence how jurors perceive, store into memory, and recall information, as well as help shape their access to and reliance on such information throughout the decision-making process (Diamond, 1993; Fiske and Taylor, 1991; Haney, 1997b).

-The racial characteristics of the victim and defendant in the case represents one set of peripheral cues that may become especially influential for capital jurors lacking clear guidance about the decision-making task before them. Both theoretical and empirical support exists for this possibility. Gaertner and Dovidio (1986) have contended that “aversive racism” may lead otherwise seemingly fair and impartial persons to manifest racial hostility when the norms against such bias become ambiguous or conflicting.

-In one of the few experimental studies of capital juror decision-making, defendant race was most influential in midrange (i.e., more ambiguous) cases, such that Black defendants were more likely to be given a death sentence than were White defendants (Applegate, Wright, Dunaway, Cullen, and Wooldredge, 1993).

-

-Specifically, low comprehension among the subjects was related to a higher percentage of death verdicts (68%) for the Black defendant/White victim condition as compared to the White defendant/Black victim condition (36%).

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/

Cost of Death Penalty:

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-in-utah-each-death-penalty-case-costs-1-6-million-extra

-According to Gary Syphus of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Office in Utah, seeking the death penalty costs the state an additional $1.6 million per inmate from trial to execution compared to life-without-parole cases

Innocent Man to Be executed:

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article-of-interest-author-john-grisham-says-texas-plans-to-execute-robert-roberson-an-innocent-man

Death Penalty Information Center. “Article of Interest: Author John Grisham Says Texas Plans to Execute Robert Roberson, An Innocent Man.” Death Penalty Information Center. 09 Sep. 2024 https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article-of-interest-author-john-grisham-says-texas-plans-to-execute-robert-roberson-an-innocent-man Accessed 15 Sep. 2024.

-flawed science and investigation that led to the wrongful conviction of Robert Roberson and the failure of the court system to correct its errors. Mr. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death for causing the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki after state attorneys told jurors that the only way Nikki could have died was from violent shaking in concert with a blunt impact. Mr. Grisham notes that while shaken baby syndrome has been used to convict parents and caregivers across the United States, Mr. Roberson would be the first person executed because of this now-discredited theory.

Obstacles to abolishing the death penalty in California

https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=05086eef-2368-49ca-993c-7f6552f1326d%40redis

Citation: 

Haberman, Leah. “MORE THAN MORATORIUMS? The Obstacles to Abolishing California’s Death Penalty.” California Legal History, vol. 17, Jan. 2022, pp. 333–52. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=159836344&site=eds-live&scope=site.

-Public hangings dated back to
the start of the nation,10 and the country continued to operate under the
presumption that some crimes are so heinous that they warrant the death
penalty. Most Americans accepted, and still accept, capital punishment as
just another feature of their legal system.11(p. 3 3 7)

-The Eighth Amendment protects individuals from cruel
and unusual punishment by the government. Abolitionists argued that the
death penalty is state-sanctioned murder, and is no different in practice than
the murders these individuals are convicted of. (p 337)

-In Trop v. Dulles1958, the Supreme Court altered the
trajectory of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence by stating the analysis
should be based on “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress
of a maturing society” and not just how things have always been done.(p 337)

-In Anderson, the Court used Trop’s “evolving standards of decency”
approach to reason that, despite the history of executions in California,
the death penalty was now barbaric to modern sensibilities of punishment
and so infrequently used that it was both cruel and unusual.19 The
Court articulated every point that abolitionists had been making: citing
the psychological harm of prolonged appeals, the lack of evidence of any
additional deterrence effect, and the inherent cruelty in the ability of the
state to take a life. The Court went further in its role as the sole arbiter of
constitutionality by stating, “public acceptance of capital punishment is a
relevant but not a controlling factor,” pushing aside the evidence provided
by the state of popular support for the death penalty (p 338)

-Furman v. Georgia that all death
penalty statutes that were applied in an arbitrary manner were unconstitutional.
23 (p 338)

-The failure of Prop. 34, which would have
ended the death penalty, shocked many because even State Senator Briggs,
the sponsor and the face of Prop. 7, supported abolishing the death penalty.
He wrote in an editorial that he no longer supported the death penalty in
California because no one was being executed, yet the cost of capital appeals
continued to burden taxpayers.54
(P. 344)

Death Penalties continued decline

https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=810306ba-322a-49cc-a469-fe35f2f08b56%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=139500986&db=a9h

Citation:
Ohnson, David T. J., and Franklin E. Zimring. “The Death Penalty’s Continued Decline.” Current History, vol. 118, no. 811, Nov. 2019, pp. 316–21. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2019.118.811.316.

Cost of death penalty in California:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/20/california-death-penalty-execution-costs

“Death Penalty Costs California More than $300M per Execution.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 June 2011, www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/20/california-death-penalty-execution-costs. 

-The alternative to capital punishment – sentencing the most serious crimes to life in prison with no chance of parole – would by comparison be much cheaper. The authors calculate that every year California spends almost $200m more than it would were all death row inmates transferred on to life without parole.

-Capital punishment is rife with hidden costs. The extra security involved in death row adds about $100,000 a year per prisoner, the initial trial costs more than $1m on top of that of a life-without-parole case and each appeal costs $300,000 in lawyers' fees.

-California and the US government have together spent some $4bn on the state's death row, yet only 13 prisoners have been executed – an average of $308m for each one. The study, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, warns that the total figure will rise to about $9bn by 2030.

Capital Error: Innocent people executed statistics

-Fourteen men in Illinois and seven in New York have already been released from jail after being exonerated by DNA evidence, most after already having spent years in prison. In all, the book provides data on more than 50 persons who have been released after DNA evidence exonerated them, showing that they served a median of eight years. One wonders how many more individuals are in prison today for major felonies that they did not commit. Is it one per cent of the total? Two per cent? Five per cent? Based on experiences through 1999, it seems certain that there are hundreds of such persons. The Innocence Project will be busy for a long time.

Citation:

"Capital errors." Nature Genetics, vol. 24, no. 3, Mar. 2000, p. 219. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, dx.doi.org.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/10.1038/73421. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.


Costs of life without parole:

https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-cost/

Citation:

“Death Penalty Cost.” Amnesty International USA, 26 June 2023, www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-cost/. 

-The greatest costs associated with the death penalty occur prior to and during trial, not in post-conviction proceedings. Even if all post-conviction proceedings (appeals) were abolished, the death penalty would still be more expensive than alternative sentences.

-In California the current system costs $137 million per year; it would cost $11.5 million for a system without the death penalty.
California Commission for the Fair Administration of Justice, July 2008

Costs of regular incarceration:
https://www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/6_cj_inmatecost

Citation:

How Much Does It Cost to Incarcerate an Inmate?, Legislative Analysts Office, Jan. 2022, www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/6_cj_inmatecost. 

-It costs an average of about $106,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate in prison in California.

-About three-quarters of these costs are for security and inmate health care.
Since 2010-11, the average annual cost has increased by about $57,000 or about 117 percent. This includes an increase of $20,800 for security and $19,000 for inmate health care.

-Significant drivers of this increase in costs were employee compensation and activation of a new health care facility. In addition, the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic also contributed to higher costs in 2021-22.


Pro(reinstitute it)
https://vigarchive.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/propositions/34/arguments-rebuttals.htm

https://www.statista.com/statistics/262929/opinion-of-us-citizens-on-the-death-penalty/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/271100/number-of-executions-in-the-us/


Recidivism rate of violent offenders:

https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/recidivism-among-federal-violent-offenders

Citation:
Hunt, Kim  Steven, et al. “Recidivism among Federal Violent Offenders.” United States Sentencing Commission, 9 May 2022, www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/recidivism-among-federal-violent-offenders. 

-Violent offenders recidivated at a higher rate than non-violent offenders. Over 60 percent (63.8%) of violent offenders recidivated by being rearrested for a new crime or for a violation of supervision conditions. This compares to less than 40 percent (39.8%) of non-violent offenders who were rearrested during the follow-up period.

-Recidivism rates for violent offenders in every age group at the time of release from custody were higher than the rates for non-violent offenders. Violent offenders recidivated at twice the rate of non-violent offenders among those released after age 40.

Reciprosity, “Eye for an Eye”

Capital Punishment Should Be Maintained

https://go-gale-com.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Primary&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&retrievalId=4a18cc5d-8ec4-4fc6-94d1-01a2d66b3efc&hitCount=12&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE%7CEJ4189200313&docType=Congressional+testimony&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-MOD1&prodId=OVIC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ4189200313&searchId=R3&userGroupName=full44847&inPS=true
	
Citation:
Evans, Kim Masters. "Capital Punishment Should Be Maintained." Capital Punishment: Cruel and Unusual?, 2012 ed., Gale, 2012. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ4189200313/OVIC?u=full44847&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=e1c83f65. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

-When we imprison kidnappers, do we thereby debase liberty? When we impose fines on thieves, do we debase property? Punishment acts as a like kind response—inflicting justified pain upon a person who earlier inflicted unjustified pain (so, too, of course celebration—returning pleasure for past pleasure). Thus the basic retributive measure—like for like—"as he has done, so shall it be done to him"; "giving a person a taste of her own medicine"; "fighting fire with fire"—satisfies at a primal level. Reciprocity is not hypocrisy.

Public support for the death penalty

https://go-gale-com.fcclib.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A456678706&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=01463934&p=AONE&sw=w&aty=open-web-entry&enforceAuth=true&linkSource=delayedAuthFullText&oweAuth=true&userGroupName=full44847&u=full44847

Citation:
Wiersma, Beth A., and Kurt D. Siedschlaw. "Student attitudes toward sex offender policies and laws." College Student Journal, vol. 50, no. 2, June 2016, pp. 143+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A456678706/AONE?u=full44847&sid=googleScholar&xid=5aed5991. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.



-Students were asked
if the death penalty should be used for repeat
sex offenders. Just over ten percent (10.89%)
indicated never while 89.10% believe the
death penalty should be used for repeat sex
offenders.

Public support statistics

https://www.statista.com/statistics/225926/americans-moral-stance-towards-the-death-penalty/

Citation:
Korhonen, Veera. “United States - Moral Stance towards the Death Penalty 2024.” Statista, 20 Aug. 2024, www.statista.com/statistics/225926/americans-moral-stance-towards-the-death-penalty/. 

Costs of Death penalty for California: statistics on number of death row inmates

https://www.statista.com/statistics/199011/number-of-prisoners-under-sentence-of-death-by-state-in-the-us/

Citation:

Korhonen, Veera. “U.S. Capital Punishment - Prisoners under Sentence of Death by State 2021.” Statista, 20 Aug. 2024, www.statista.com/statistics/199011/number-of-prisoners-under-sentence-of-death-by-state-in-the-us/. 

-Over 690 inmates on death row
-over 100,000 a year to house each inmate for the rest of their lives

Lawsuits challenging death penalty
-Michael Morales, et al., v. Gavin Newsom et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California

-Los Angeles Times Communications LLC, et al., v. Ralph Diaz, et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California

-Jay Jarvis Masters et al. v. Ralph Diaz et al., Marin County Superior Court

-Sims, ACLU et al. v. Scott Kernan et al., Alameda County Superior Court

Reaffirmed death penalty constitutionality 
-People v. McDaniel, the 2021 decision
that reaffirmed the constitutionality of California’s death penalty


To Be or Not To Be: Death Penalty Abolition in California

Issue Question: Should California abolish the Death Penalty?

(Plan A)
Introduction:
Hook: What should be done to those in society who have committed the most heinous of crimes? In many states in America, the answer to that question is Death. Such a final and extreme response can give haste to even the most opinionated in the Land of the Free. In California, the response to this question is currently in limbo, as a moratorium has been put on any of those sentenced to death. An inquiry into such a poignant example of the consequences of the criminal justice system warrants examination from both sides of the spectrum.

Thesis Statement: 

Those in favor of abolishing the death penalty in California have given several arguments to their side. Some of which cite the practice violates the eighth amendment right protecting against cruel and unusual punishment, racial discrimination in sentencing, the possibility of innocence for those sentenced, and the cost to the state for each Death Sentence vs life imprisonment.

While those against abolition often cite the public support majority,  the cost of housing inmates in perpetuity, the fact that recidivism rates for violent offenders are (the most common death sentence being for murder), and the need for retributive justice.

Pro 1: 
Topic Sentence: The Death Penalty violates the 8th Amendment right protecting against cruel and unusual punishment.

Pro 2: 
Topic Sentence: Racial discrimination plays a factor in sentencing for even the most carefully selected jury due to jurors lack of familiarity in legal proceedings. 

Pro 3: 
Topic Sentence: It is possible to execute an innocent person before sufficient evidence can be provided to demonstrate innocence.

Con 1: 
Topic Sentence: The public generally is in support for the death penalty in California
Con 2: 
Topic Sentence: It would cost much more to house death row inmates per year than to execute them, even with the cost of trial and appeals.
Con 3:
Topic Sentence: There is an inherent need for retributive justice. This is the purpose of the criminal justice system. 

[Sample Paragraph Development
EXamples/Evidence/sources:
Explanation:
Anticipated objections from the Skeptical Reader:
Rebuttal to the objection from the skeptical reader:]
Conclusion:

To properly fill out my paper like this sample:

Issue Question: Should California provide Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants?
(Plan A)
Introduction:
Hook
Thesis Statement: (Clearly states the main reasons for both sides in answer to the Issue Question.)
Example: Those in favor of issuing California Driver’s Licenses to illegal immigrants argue that the licenses will increase highway safety for all and decrease insurance premiums as well as create greater community safety because law enforcement will have greater knowledge about the location of immigrants. On the other hand, those opposed to the licenses consider them a threat to domestic safety, an encouragement to further immigration as well as an illegitimate reward for individuals who are breaking the law.
Pro 1: (First Argument for the Pro Position)
Topic Sentence: Giving immigrants driver’s licenses will ensure they have the knowledge to drive
and thus make the roads safer for everyone.
Pro 2: (Second Argument for Pro Position)
Topic Sentence: Once these drivers have legal licensees, then they can obtain insurance, which will
decrease the number of “hit and run” accidents.
Topic Sentence: When the number of uninsured motorists decreases, it will decrease the insurance
premiums of all drivers that result from “hit and run” accidents and uninsured motorists.
Pro 3: (Third Argument for the Pro Position)
Topic Sentence: You fill this one in—see the thesis above.
Con 1: (Second Argument for the Con Position)
Topic Sentence:
Con 2: (Third Argument for the Con Position)
Topic Sentence:
Con 3: (First Argument for the Con Position)
Topic Sentence/Assertion: Illegal immigrants break the law to enter and remain in this country, therefore rewarding them with the privilege of driving is not only illogical, it is also clearly illegal.
[Sample Paragraph Development
EXamples/Evidence/sources:
Explanation:
Anticipated objections from the Skeptical Reader:
Rebuttal to the objection from the skeptical reader:]
Conclusion:

Here is an example they provided me:

Sample Inquiry A
Opening Paragraphs:
Shall it be Death?
Controversy lies throughout the world for many different topics and arguments. But, some don’t get as much attention as others and at times may be something that should be brought to more attention. One of these include whether or not someone should be put to death for committing a crime. There are many controversies when it comes to whether or not capital punishment should be used as punishment against criminals; such as one side arguing a criminal deserves the appropriate punishment and the other side arguing it is ‘cruel and unusual’. Usually when controversy comes about, it is because not everyone has the same opinion and no one knows where to draw the line in order for us to meet in the middle, this happens to be one of the more serious issues.
There are a few arguments people have as to why or why not capital punishment serves justice to criminals, one of these being fairness. Those who support capital punishment would say they have committed a crime that deserves the ultimate punishment our world can propose; that being death. Enthusiasts in favor of the death penalty have no pity for such criminals no matter what made them do such a horrendous thing to land them on death row.
1. T/F The essay has an effective and interesting title.
2. T/F The opening clearly establishes the issue question for the reader.
3. T/F The thesis clearly presents the main arguments for both sides and articulates the reasons.
In other words, it excels at the Quiz Test.
…
Works Cited
Messerli, Joe. "Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment?"
BalancedPolitics.org. 8 Sept. 2008. Web. 6 Sept. 2009.
White, Deborah. "Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty." About.com: US Liberal
Topics. Web. 6 Sept. 2009.
4. T/F This paper has sufficient research for an effective inquiry into a controversial topic.
5. T/F This paper uses sources that are both credible and help establish the author’s authority with the reader.
6. If this person was your partner for the group essay, you would:
A) Be very excited because they have done all the necessary research and clearly presented the most important arguments for your side while correctly identifying the main arguments for the other side as well.
B) Recognize that the thesis for your persuasive group essay will need to present the actual claims more effectively.
C) Recognize that significant additional research would be necessary to have a thorough understanding of the complex issue and also that it is important to select sources that help establish the author’s credibility with the reader
(i.e. Wikipedia says… versus “according to a recent study conducted with the Harvard School of Medicine and published in the New England Journal of Medicine,…)
D) Both B and C