NCJ Number
187453
Journal
Crime and Justice International Volume: 16 Issue: 44 Dated: September 2000 Pages: 5-6,25-28
Date Published
September 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article describes the impact of the U.S. death row regime on the inmates and the correctional staff who reside there.
Abstract
The death row of the 21st century continues to provide the barest services, minimal contact, and the slightest concern for the inmates who live there. This prison's prison is one of deprivation, depersonalization, and demoralization. Typically, death row inmates are denied access to even the meager privileges, comforts, and services available to the general prison population. Instead, inmates are under solitary confinement for up to 23.5 hours a day. Many cells do not accommodate for visible or direct contact with other inmates and offer only minimal contact with staff. Commonly, the only out-of-cell activities include handcuffed showers, exercise in restricted recreation yards, and occasional highly monitored visits. The dilemmas and pressures of death row inflict three universal existential emotions: powerlessness, fear, and emotional emptiness. The death row staff live under constant fear under high-risk circumstances of counts, shake-downs, or out-of-cell activities. Many inmates would show no remorse in harming or killing a guard if the opportunity arose. Staff must also deal with the stress of being preparers for and agents of death for the inmates; they must dispose of the bodies of executed inmates and deal with the emotional strains of the entire death row and execution process. 14 references