Source:
LEGAL EXECUTIONS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA By BRIAN PURDUE
Foundation Press C B. Purdue 1993

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT - FOR AND AGAINST

Western Australia’s State Parliament passed legislation abolishing capital punishment in 1984. The short title of that Act is Acts Amendment (Abolition of Capital Punishment) Act 1984.

If you are studying this subject and need information about the arguments for and against, we suggest that you visit either your school library or your local library. Here are some suggestions about searching for texts on the subject-

For information on the topic generally look in your library collection under the Dewey Decimal subject classification number 364.66. Also you may look up the following subjects in the library catalogue to see what books and other materials on the topic are held in the collection:

• Capital punishment
• Death penalty

Look up the subjects in your library’s encyclopedias, usually kept in the Reference section & not for loan.

Ask at your school or local library if they have any of the books listed below. Your local public library will probably have the listed encyclopedias in its reference collection. If not, try other encyclopedias on their reference shelves.

Most of the books listed below are available through your local public library. You may have to ask the librarian to obtain a title for you on inter-library loan. In some cases it could take a number of weeks before the book becomes available for you to use, so do not leave your assignment until the day before it is due for handing in. Plan ahead so you have resources in plenty of time for you to make use of them.

Suggested reading

The Australian Encyclopedia (1988) (check in the Reference section)

Capital Punishment: the Death Penalty Debate (1997) by Ted Gottfried

The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints (1986) edited by Bonnie Szumski (and others)

End of the line: capital punishment in Australia (1994) by Michael Victory (this has an excellent chapter on the arguments for & against)

For and against: an anthology of public issues in Australia (1989) edited by R. Giles

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica Micropaedia Vol. 2 p831 (check in the Reference section)

On Capital Punishment (1985) by William H. Baker

Punishment and the Death Penalty: the Current Debate edited by Robert M. Baird & Stuart E. Resenbaum

When the State Kills: the Death Penalty v. Human Rights (1989) Amnesty International

The World Book Encyclopedia Vol. 3 p114 (check in the Reference section)