Plagiarism Example 2

From Jill Smolowe, “Race and the . . . Then the court set tough new Death Penalty.” Time 29 April 1991: standards that severely curtail a state 68-69. prisoner’s ability to bring claims of violations of his constitutional rights “The death penalty symbolizes whom we before a federal court. . . . fear and don’t fear, whom we care about and whose lives are not valid,” says From a student’s essay Bryan Stevenson, the director of Alabama’s Capital Representation The manner in which we punish people Resource Center. Fair enough. Just for breaking laws reflects the attitudes whom do Americans fear—and whom and beliefs of society. In the United do they care about? The answers to States the death penalty demonstrates the these questions of life and death lie in a value we place on human life. The set of dry but startling statistics: validity of life is symbolized by the politics of the death penalty. Of the 144  Of the 144 executions since the 1976 executions since the 1976 reinstatement reinstatement of the death penalty in of the death penalty, not one white the U.S., not one white person has person has been executed for killing an been executed for the killing of a African-American (Smolowe 68). Of black. the 16,000 executions in U.S. history, only 30 cases involved a white sentenced  In those 144 killings, 86% of the for killing a African-American victims were white, although roughly (Smolowe 68). New data demonstrates half of all murder victims in the U.S. that murderers of whites are four times are black. as likely to get the death penalty as murderers of African-Americans  Of the 16,000 executions in U.S. (Smolowe 69). history, only 30 cases involved a white sentenced for killing a black. The Supreme Court has acknowledged that the link between a victim’s race and . . . Presented with data demonstrating imposition of the death penalty is that murderers of whites are four times “statistically significant” in the system as as likely to receive the death penalty as a whole (Smolowe 69). The Court murderers of blacks, the court allowed decided that no petitioner could rely that the link between a victim’s race and exclusively on this evidence to show that the imposition of the death penalty was they received the death sentence “statistically significant in the system as because, and only because, the victim a whole.” But the court concluded, no was white (Smolowe 69). The Court has petitioner could rely exclusively on such set new standards that severely curtail a statistics to show that “he received the state prisoner’s ability to bring claims of death penalty because, and only because, violations of his/her constitutional rights his victim was white.” before a federal court.