The death penalty is a contentious issue in both sociology and in U. S. society generally. The website of the Death Penalty Information Center

Once you are in the website place the cursor over the Facts marker, then click on Executions from the drop-down menu to locate the following information:

1. How many people have been executed so far this year?

Now, again under Facts marker, click on Death Row and then on Inmates by Race...

2. What percentage of current death row inmates are black?

3. What is the current population of death row inmates in California?

Now click on Costs located in the Issues heading (top of page). Skim down the page to the heading: Kansas

4. How much more does it cost to execute a prisoner rather than incarcerate him/her for life?

Scroll further down the page to the heading: California

5. How much money would California save if the Governor commuted the sentences of those remaining on death row?

Now click on Issues, then Deterrence, then Law Enforcement Views on Deterrence and find the answers for the following question.

6. Do a majority of law enforcement officers think the death penalty is an effective law enforcement tool?