Live From Death Row Sparknotes

Fuller Buckminster once said “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” Due to the inventions in computers and the internet, people have lost the ability to interact with one another face-to-face. In the article, “Authenticating,” Brain Christian emphasizes on how advancement in code programming has created a chat stimulated program called “Chatbots” which mimics human behavior. However, one’s attachment to these robotic humans have taken away the opportunity one has in order to have a real life conversation. Similarly, Francis Fukuyama in his article “Human Dignity,” mentions how he is concerned with what it means to be a human. He talks about Factor X which are inner traits such an emotions, and thoughts that distinguishes one person from another. Even though, technology is essential in everyday life, the misuse of it, such as constantly engaging in a conversation with a chatbot, can lead to abandoning the Factor X of humanity.

Would it be true that capital punishment saves lives? Edward Koch, in his article “Death and Justice” believes it does. Koch, using common techniques to influence his audience, suggests that killers should be handled within this tried and avenged form of punishment. Koch opens his article by quoting convicted murderers Robert Lee Willie and Joseph Carl Shaw, both in the last moments of their lives pleading for the justice system to put a stop to the endless cycle of killing. Using simple logic, Koch argues that the sudden changing of the killers’ moral character is not a result of remorse for the victims, but rather an attempt to save their own lives from the killing hands of the justice system. Koch effectively uses these quotes to suggest to the reader that a killer might have thought twice about his/her own actions if the death sentence were a belief.

In the last part of the book, peace, Michael writes about his exoneration and the welcomed journey of beginning his life outside of prison. The author uses the themes of pain, prison, and peace to create an emotional and firsthand account of what it is like to be sentenced to life in prison for a crime you did not commit.

In 1963, the rights and the equality for African Americans was a cause constantly fought for. Protests and marches took place in order to push for a change in the society, to make a world where equality is achieved. In a Birmingham jail, sat a civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr.. Placed in this cell due to a protest held in Birmingham, Alabama when there was a court order stating it was not allowed, King wrote a letter that has become an influential and infamous piece of writing. This letter became known as, “The letter from a Birmingham Jail”. This letter calls out to the criticisms placed on King and confronts them all. In this letter, through rhetorical devices such as pathos, logos and ethos, and other rhetorical devices.

Through the use of literature to inspire social change, Michelle Alexander is able to bring attention to an extremely important social issue that is very prevalent throughout our country. The issue that Alexander is writing about is the mass incarceration of black males in the United States. She describes this increase of mass incarceration in depth, and relates this modern form of social control back to an old practice of the Jim Crow laws and separate but equal segregation.

In “The Death Penalty is a Step Back” is a written essay by Coretta Scott King, argues that the death penalty is unethical and illegitimate. In doing so, she develops this strong statement by, first, establishing her moral right to make this statement and to promote a non-violence over the death penalty.

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom," declared George W. Carver. This quote to me means that without an education you have freedom but it is limited freedom only because without knowledge you miss out on half of what the world has to offer. In the book Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington, Washington is born into slavery in Malden, Virginia and then freed at the age of nine. He struggles through poverty, racism, and many other obstacles to obtain an education but never loses his determination . An education is beneficial considering all the opportunities it has to offer.

Angela Davis is the author of "Are Prisons Obsolete?". Davis lays out the facts about incarceration and how it has effected our society; not to mention how it has played a major role in our history. Davis outlines the significant importance that incarceration has towards minorities in America. She goes on to identifies race, gender, and class as being a part of the problem of incarceration. Davis takes the stance of not having prisons in our society, period. She does believe that we can have some sort of a reform; however she believes that can only be accomplished by a social up rise. Overall she is a firm believer in a society where no one is caged.

During the American Revolution, different people had different points of views on Freedom and Liberty. In the book, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, it talks about these different types of people and their views. More specifically, the slaves, Patriots, and Loyalists. The varying perspectives on this certain topic, drove bad actions between these three groups. Patriots were very rebellious and did not agree with the hierarchy, British, Loyalists, nor the King. While, the Loyalists were complete opposite and obeyed all laws made by the King and Britain. Slaves, on the other hand, were most passionate about rights, liberty, and freedom. Both the Patriots and the Loyalists owned slaves and did not allow them entitlement, making the slaves indecisive

This research is based on several journal articles, online databases, and textbooks. The information extracted from these sources of content is used for the analysis of this study. Furthermore, the information gathered from this research is specifically used to focus on the difficulties that juveniles face when sentenced to life without parole. Instead of having the opportunity to serve their sentence through probation or parole, some juveniles are sentenced to face irreversible damages. Thus, it is imperative to understand that there are programs through community corrections that benefit juveniles far more than life without parole. The information gathered provides society with a better understanding of the sanctions in the Juvenile Justice

The article “Abolish Prison” is about how prison is “ the most astonishingly stupid and inhuman way to punish crime,” and then expresses the best alternatives, according to author Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry. Gobry starts out by talking about how prison is a place that doesn't bring an end to crime, but cause it to flourish. Prison “breeds crime and social dysfunction,” and turns “mediocre criminals into hardened ones.” Next, the article discusses the government’s role in prison issues. Gobry expresses that funding may help make prison better, but that funds come from “numerical size and public sympathy level,” and prison has neither. Finally, the article turns to possible alternatives for crime punishment. Gobry breaks it down into three levels;

I believe that the movie Dead Man Walking impacted my life greatly. It was a very emotional and moving movie. This was an excellent movie because it portrayed the feelings of both the families of the victims and the murder himself. It shows how much pain and suffering the families had to go through with all the sadness and hatred against Matthew Poncelant. The movie also showed how that the families' hatred did not go away after Matthew was executed. The greatest emotional part of the movie was when Matthew confessed that he did kill the teenagers and that he was truly sorry. From there, he was able to at least die with dignity and also he asked the parents of the teenagers for their forgiveness for him. This movie also showed how the

Prisons have many policies set in place to help aid inmates’ with adjusting to prison life. No matter what policies are set in place to help aid inmates they will always have a hard time especially for first timers. According to Frank Schmalleger and John Ortiz Smykla (2009) new inmates face major problems because of the loss of liberty, lack of material possessions, the depravation of materials and services, the lack of heterosexual relationships, and feeling unsecured. I think that inmates can be helped with the adjustment process by initiating and enforcing a program to deal with such issues. I think I would eliminate policies that are designed to make prison life unpleasant and concentrate more on policies that help inmates progress in their educational and rehabilitation programs. One policy that is very important to inmates is to feel safe in their prison environment. As a result there have been many debates on the rights of the inmates. I think the most important policy I would enforce is educational programs that will

Robertson devotes years of his life fighting for the truth- that human rights must be maintained. Robertson portrays to the observers that a prolonged wait on death row (2 years and more) breaches Human Rights due to it being an environment where “prisoner’s personality is incredibly brutalised.” This use of high modality illustrates Robertson’s morals and views on the death penalty- being a punishment that does not support the human rights of individuals. Robertson’s morals disable him from getting a clear perception of the truth, as he does not see the benefits that exist. However the government is able to identify the benefits, and gain a view Robertson is not able to, due to their different morals. The government believes capital punishment does not breach human rights; they defend the policy of having capital punishment by referring to it as a deterrent.

Across America, certain states allow their governments to make use of the death penalty for a myriad of crimes. The methods through which it is attained is often as controversial as the act itself. In the tale of The Confession by John Grisham, the city of Slone, Texas comes to terms with the severe ramifications that come with taking someone's life, whether it be condoned by the law or not. In the case of Donté Drumm, a young football player is accused of killing Nicole Yerber, a popular cheerleader who was supposedly dating him at the time. He was forced into a confession by means of psychological torture. After nine years, Donté is killed for a crime he did not commit. The town unearths the reality that taking someone's life is a permanent action which cannot be undone when a mistake is made. The Confession takes a closer look at what the death penalty really means by not only looking at the statistics but the emotional toll it takes on the people connected to it too, explaining how the death penalty is fundamentally wrong and looking at ways to open people's eyes to the truth of it.