Death Penalty Anckar, Carsten. "Why Countries Choose the Death Penalty." Brown Journal of World

Affairs 21.1 (2014): 7-25. Business Source Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

This source focuses on why countries choose to use the death penalty to punish certain crimes. The crimes punished for with the death penalty vary but the use of the death penalty is typically for one or more several common reasons. For the countries that do choose the death penalty, the reason is usually because it is seen as the "ultimate" form of punishment and is typically (but not always) reserved for crimes of a very obscene and/or violent nature. In the vast majority of cases, the taking of a life is required for those that get death sentences. For countries that do not choose the death penalty, it is typically avoided because it is seen as ineffectual, barbaric to engage in despite the nature of the crimes committed by the criminal and so forth. In many countries, the use of the death penalty is seen as a way of "lowering" one's self to the level of the criminal and/or the country's society is seen as being a factor in why the person came to be what they were/are in the first place. Regardless, other punishments such as life in prison (the usual way) are used instead.

Falco, Diana L., and Tina L. Freiburger. "Public Opinion & The Death Penalty: A Qualitative

Approach." Qualitative Report 16.3 (2011): 830-847. ERIC. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

This report focuses on the death penalty and the public perception of the same. Of course, the opinion varies based on the crime in question, what country is the focus of the analysis and so forth. This report shows the different results using different questions and perspectives. What makes this report rather unique is that it does not use the traditional approach when looking at public opinion polls. The "usual" way would be the looking at of polls, the average score or answer given for each question and so forth. A qualitative approach would be more free-form and exploratory in nature. Rather than just looking at the "what" of an answer, the qualitative approach would dig more into the "why" a person answered as they did. This muddies the analyais more than a bit but it allows for a much better depth and breadth to the answers as the answer itself in terms of being "pro" or "against" is fleshed out by offering some of the context. Indeed, someone may be for the death penalty even though it is shown to be a non-deterrent to crime because the punishment is demanded given the severity of the crime. By contrast, others might feel that no crime justifies the use of a government using capital punishment due to the moral implications, the lack of deterrence, the fact that many people who commit savage crimes are intellectually disabled or otherwise compromised and so forth.

Gibson, James, and Corinna Barrett-Lain. "Death Penalty Drugs and The International Moral

Marketplace." Georgetown Law Journal 103.5 (2015): 1215-1274. Business Source

Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

This report focuses on the growing emergence of drug companies that deal in the drugs that are commonly used for lethal injection deciding to not sell the drugs to state and federal authorities around the world on legal liability and/or moral grounds. What is meant by the moral marketplace is that the drugs used to kill inmates on death row often have other uses. Even when that is not commonly the case, the companies that deal in the drugs to be used for executions refuse to at least prefer that the states or countries buying the drugs not use the drugs for putting people to death. It has gotten to the point that many jurisdictions have started to tinker with the drugs used and the amounts used thereof so as to get the desired effect while still getting around the fact that many companies refuse to sell for the purpose stated. This is a high-level concern because the use...

Indeed, more "brutal" death penalty means like the electric chair and the gas chamber have been outlawed or at least eschewed as lethal injection is supposed to be more immediate and painless. Given the lack of availability of the "death penalty drugs," that has started to change and this has left death-penalty jurisdictions scrambling. Many of the jurisdictions in question are states within the United States. On the other hand, other jurisdicitons care little at all about being humane and continue to use more brutal means. Regardless, those that try to use the marketplace (e.g. drug companies) to put on their executions are finding it harder to find assistance and cooperation in this regard from the private sector drug companies around the world due to moral concerns at the local and/or international level when it comes to the death penalty and its usage.
Gius, Mark. "The Impact of the Death Penalty & Executions On State-Level Murder Rates:

1980-2011." Applied Economics Letters 23.3 (2016): 199-201. Business Source Premier.

Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

This report focuses on whether the death penalty is just serving as a form of punishment or if it is an actual and real deterrent to crime on the street. Of course, many people that are pro-death penalty say that the effect on crime is of little concern as punishing peole that are guilty of certain crimes should get it no matter what. Others suggest that whether the death penalty actually has an effect matter greatly given the legal costs and moral questions involved. A further layer of the proverbial onion is the fact that some states differ greatly in terms of the amount of offenders that are up for death row or that would theoretically face the death penalty. Some courts and governors have gone so far as to put moratoriums on death penalty executions and some people from the same have commuted death sentences in favor of life without parole. Some suggest that the latter is a worse fate as it makes the inmate think long and hard about what they did over the years and decades and that they end up dying in custody anyway. There is also talk about what is more expensive in the long run in terms of housing, appeal/legal costs and so forth.

Hagan, L, Drogin, E, & Guilmette, T 2016, 'Assessing Adaptive Functioning in Death Penalty

Cases after Hall and DSM-5', The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry & The Law, 44, 1, pp. 96-105, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 March 2016.

This report focuses on the practice of executing people with mental illness. DSM 5 (otherwise known as DSM V) is a common and prolifically used set of standards to help define and classify people in terms of the mental illnesses that they have. These standards are compared and contrasted based on what people with certain illnesses are executed and which ones are not. To some, there is a very fine line between someone who is psychotic and someone who just does not care about the norms and rules of society. Put another way, some people are deemed incapable of knowing right from wrong and many hold that these people should be housed in a hospital setting, even if it is a hospital for criminal offenders. Others suggest that there are those that know the rules and do not care and thus should face punishment regardless. There is a third group that cares little if motive and lucidity are an issue and want people put to death regardless. These are interesting questions as many would hold that murder with malice is always emblematic of someone that is of shoddy moral code and thus the rest of the questions are moot and void. Consistent with other sources in this report, there is the question as to why these people are the way they are and some point to bad parentage and/or society failing them. Others suggest that this is far from being true and an individual should be held accountable for what they do or do not do in life.

Shetty, Salil. "The Value of International Standards in The Campaign for Abolition of the Death

Penalty." Brown Journal of World Affairs 21.1 (2014): 41-56. Business Source Premier.

Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

This report makes reference to the international trends and commonalities that exist as it relates to the death penalty. Some countries make heavy use of the death penalty while other countries do absolutely none. Most countries fall in between and this varies based on the economic and civilization advancement of a given country. If there is one overall pattern that one should recognize and look at,…