When the death penalty laws were first established in eighteenth century B.C. William the Conqueror only allowed those that committed murder to be hung. Over the next few decades and into our current society today, crime rates have only increased and the severity has extended beyond just the few capital offenses that were once thought to be extreme. Most cases punishable by death in today's society include multiple variations of murder, but also espionage, treason, and death resulting from hijacking. Capital court cases today are decided by a group of 12 people, otherwise known as a jury, who swear to give a verdict within a legal case. The fact is clear, the life of one individual is decided by factual evidence and supporting details given within a trial, where the jurors then come to a conclusion on whether the defendant is guilty or innocent.  Although the decision in court is a normal part of society, the topic of the death penalty is more complex than just a simple guilty or not guilty verdict. Capital Punishment lies on the line of morality and whether or not, government execution is justified, it is often not fairly applied in the racial aspect, or the idea that one human being decides whether another lives or dies, and there is no factual evidence that the death penalty actually deters any violent crime. 

Personal Context

I chose this research question because of it being an extremely controversial topic. It involves multiple complex scenarios that are not answered by a quick search on the internet but rather, involve various different research aspects. I feel with all the different aspects of the death penalty in general that when it comes down to write my research paper I will only choose one or two topics to completely focus in on within the essay. This research does not directly affect me in any way other than by expanding my knowledge on a topic that I feel passionately about. Going into this research project, I have put my personal biased opinions to the side and I have decided to develop my paper through all of the evidence and supporting details I find during my research. This eliminates the possibility of my own personal beliefs seeping through the structure of my essay and making it non-credible or biased in any way. Remaining unbiased while researching this topic, has allowed me to see both the pros and cons when it comes to capital punishment. I think this has positively affected my project because it has allowed me to choose a side where the most information has been provided but to also to make sure that I know enough about the opposing side so that both the good and bad are laid out thoroughly in my essay. I do not have a direct personal experience regarding this topic, but I have grown up in a society where the death penalty does exist, and I have seen and heard multiple different stories regarding the death penalty in a judicial court system. I wouldn't say that I am fully qualified to write about this topic, because in no way am I a complete expert in every aspect of the death penalty but I have done my research and feel as though I can fully portray both sides of this argument. 

Three Sources Pertaining to the research question

The main idea of this article is that racial disparities do play a major role in deciding if the defendant should be placed on death row or if the defendant should receive life in prison. There are multiple studies that have found that the race of the victim and the defendant both strongly influence the verdict in any judicial court case. The major values and interests at stake for this article are that the article makes claims about the racial factor involved with the death penalty. The article, although it claims that the death penalty is strongly influenced by race, is also backed up with statistics and evidence based on past court cases and percentages based on the race of death row inmates, race of defendants, and the race of the victims. In short, it is found that those who kill whites are more likely to be sentenced to death rather than those who kill African-Americans. After analyzing this source, there may not be an author for the words written but the credibility still remains the same. This is a credible source because it is focused entirely on the topic of the death penalty and all of the information provided is followed with a source from where it was taken from. 

The central claim of this article is that the death penalty is justifiable under one principle, that depending on the nature and severity of the crime. One individual cannot argue that the death penalty is the same thing as murder. Society determines what behaviors are unacceptable and therefor punishable by death, the individual is not responsible for this decision, so it's not up to any one person solely whether someone lives or dies. The major values and interests at stake for this article are that the article claims that in no way does murdering an individual in cold blood equal out to be the same as capital punishment, and nor can capital punishment equal that of murdering another individual. The state is able to act on the law when necessary whereas an individual does not get to make this choice. The problem with this is that many people can argue against this claim, by saying that a criminal being put to death is an eye for an eye or revenge in an aspect, but really it does not equate to the death of an innocent man by the means of a guilty one. The author of this article is Dr. Jim L. Riley, also went on to receive his Ph.D. this makes everything he says easy to believe because of the status we give and assume people have when they have received a Ph.D. However, it does not clarify what the author has received his degree in so whether or not he is an expert on the death penalty is still not known. This site is definitely credible because it is straight from an educational source.

This article is about the fact that there has been no actual solid evidence to support that the death penalty actually deters crime. If criminals are going to commit a crime specifically one that is going to result in the death of another individual, they do it because they want to do it. The criminal is going to commit the crime no matter what, having the death penalty exist in society is not going to stop a murderer from killing someone if that is really what he/she wants to do. The major values and interests at stake for this article are that there is no empirical evidence to support that capital punishment deters any crime, but with that being said statistics demonstrate that states without the death penalty actually have lower murder rates. This could be due to a few hesitating to commit a crime, but it is not enough to actually say that there is deterrence. The author of this article is a former US District Court and US court of appeals judge so he has background on the topic of the death penalty, therefore making this information credible as well as the source itself. It was first written in the article "Is It Time to Execute the Death Penalty?"

Feasibility of the Research Question

This research question is arguable because there are multiple sources that both agree with the various aspects of the article and there are sources that disagree. The topic is so controversial that over the decades it is gained many followers who believe that it is necessary in society as well as those who protest against it. While some people see the death penalty as an eye for an eye, others see it as letting the felon off too easy and believing that they deserve to rot in prison. This "letting them off too easy" phenomenon stems from the idea that multiple courts have become in favor of, which is the sentence of life without parole in prison. At this point the individual found guilty would be forced to sit and think every day for the rest of their lives about the awful crime that they committed. The different perspectives of the sources have made me realize that after looking over both the pros and the cons of the death penalty, there are multiple reasons that the death penalty should be abolished. The criminals that have committed the heinous crimes don't deserve to get the easy injection of toxins in their body, they deserve to sit and think everyday about the innocent life that they took. I don't want to change much about my research question because I feel like it is a complex and difficult question, that when developed will make my essay that much better. Although if I was to change anything, I would like to narrow in and focus on one or two aspects of the death penalty and to really delve deep into my research about those specific topics. 

