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Death row is a term that refers to the section of a prison that houses individuals awaiting execution. It is also used to refer to the state of awaiting execution, even in places where a special section of a prison does not exist ("being on death row").
After individuals are found guilty of an offense and sentenced to execution, they will remain on death row while following an appeals procedure, if they so choose, and then until there is a convenient time for execution. Due to the lengthy, expensive and time consuming appeals procedure that must be followed in the United States before an execution can be carried out, prisoners may wait years before execution; nearly a quarter of deaths on death row in the U.S. are in fact of natural causes.2
In Great Britain, before it abolished capital punishment, prisoners were conventionally reprieved if they were not executed within 99 days of being sentenced.citation needed In some Caribbean countries which still authorize execution, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the ultimate court of appeal. It has upheld appeals by prisoners who have spent several years under sentence of death, stating that it does not desire to see the death row phenomenon emerge in countries under its jurisdiction.
Haiti continues the conventional 'reprieved if not executed within 90 days' process adopted by Great Britain before its abolition.
Opponents of capital punishment claim that a prisoner's isolation and uncertainty over their fate constitute a form of mental cruelty and that especially long-time death row inmates are liable to become mentally ill, if they are not already. This is referred to as the death row phenomenon.
As of 2008[update], there were 3,263 prisoners awaiting execution in the United States.3 Also as of 2008, the longest-serving prisoner on death row in the U.S.A. (who has been executed) was Jack Alderman who served over 33 years. He was executed in 2008.4
Contents |
Locations of Death Rows in the United States
| State | Men death row | Women death row | Execution chamber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | Terre Haute, Indiana (Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute) | Terre Haute, Indiana (Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute) | Terre Haute, Indiana (Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute) |
| Military | Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (United States Disciplinary Barracks) | San Diego, California (Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar-Marine Corps Air Station Miramar)(1) | Terre Haute, Indiana (Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute) |
| California | San Francisco (San Quentin State Prison) | Chowchilla (Valley State Prison for Women) | San Francisco (San Quentin State Prison) |
| Texas | Livingstone (Polunsky Unit) | Gatesville (Mountain View Unit) | Huntsville (Huntsville Unit) |
| New York (2) | Dannemora (Clinton Correctional Facility) | ??? | Beekman (Green Haven Correctional Facility) (3) |
| Florida | Starke (Florida State Prison) | Lowell (Lowell Correctional Institution) | Starke (Florida State Prison) |
| Pennsylvania | Both State Correctional Institutions in Waynesburg and Graterford | Muncy (State Correctional Institution) | State Correctional Institution - Rockview |
| Illinois | Pontiac Correctional Center | Dwight | Tamms Correctional Center or Menard Correctional Center |
| Ohio | Youngstown (Ohio State Penitentiary) + Mansfield (Mansfield Correctional Institution) | Marysville (Ohio Reformatory for Women) | Lucasville (Southern Ohio Correctional Facility) |
| North Carolina | Raleigh (Central Prison) | Raleigh (Correctional Institution for Women) | Raleigh (Central Prison) |
| Georgia | Jackson | Atlanta | Jackson (Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison) |
| Virginia | Waverly (Sussex I State Prison) | (Fluvanna Correctional Center) | Greensville Correctional Center |
| Washington | Walla Walla (Washington State Penitentiary) | ??? | Walla Walla (Washington State Penitentiary) |
| Indiana | Michigan City (Indiana State Prison) | Indianapolis (Indiana Women's Prison) | Michigan City (Indiana State Prison) |
| Missouri | Bonne Terre (Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center) | Fulton | Bonne Terre (Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center) |
| Tennessee [1] | Nashville (Riverbend Maximum Security Institution) +
Knoxville (Brushy Mountain Correctional) |
Nashville (Tennessee Prison for Women) | Nashville (Riverbend Maximum Security Institution) |
| Maryland | Baltimore (Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center) | ??? | Baltimore (Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center) |
| Arizona | Arizona State Prison Complex - Florence | Arizona State Prison Complex - Perryville | Arizona State Prison Complex - Florence |
| Alabama | Atmore (Holman Correctional Facility) | Wetumpka (Julia Tutwiler Correctional Center for Women) | Atmore (Holman Correctional Facility) |
| Colorado | Canon City (Colorado State Penitentiary) | ??? | Canon City (Colorado State Penitentiary) |
| Louisiana | Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary) | St Gabriel (Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women) | Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary) |
| South Carolina | Ridgeville (Lieber Correctional Institution) | Columbia | Columbia (Broad River Correctional Institution) |
| Kentucky | Eddyville (Kentucky State Penitentiary) | Pewee Valley (Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women) | Eddyville (Kentucky State Penitentiary) |
| Connecticut | Somers (Northern Correctional Institution) | ??? | Somers (Osborn Correctional Institution) |
| Oklahoma | McAlester (Oklahoma State Penitentiary) | Oklahoma city | McAlester (Oklahoma State Penitentiary) |
| Oregon | Salem (Oregon State Penitentiary) | ??? | Salem (Oregon State Penitentiary) |
| Kansas | El Dorado (El Dorado Correctional Facility) | Topeka (Topeka Correctional Facility) | Lansing (Lansing Correctional Facility) |
| Arkansas | Grady (Varner Unit) | Pine Bluff (Pine Bluff Unit) | Grady (Cummins Unit) |
| Mississippi | Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) | Pearl | Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary) |
| Nebraska | Tecumseh (Tecumseh State Correctional Institution) | York (Nebraska Correctional Center for Women) | Lincoln (Nebraska State Penitentiary) |
| Nevada | Ely (Ely State Prison) | Carson City | Carson City (Nevada State Prison) |
| New Mexico | Santa Fé (Penitentiary of New Mexico) | Grants (New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility) | Santa Fé (Penitentiary of New Mexico) |
| Utah | Draper (Utah State Prison) | ??? | Draper (Utah State Prison) |
| Idaho | Boise (Idaho Maximum Security Institution) | Pocatello (Pocatello Women's Correctional Center) | Boise (Idaho Maximum Security Institution) |
| New Hampshire | Concord (4) | ??? | (5) |
| South Dakota | Sioux Falls (South Dakota State Penitentiary) | ??? | Sioux Falls (South Dakota State Penitentiary) |
| Delaware | Smyrna (Delaware Correctional Center) | New Castle (Delaware State Women's Prison) | Smyrna (Delaware Correctional Center) |
| Montana | Deer Lodge (Montana State Prison) | Billings (Montana State Women's Prison) | Deer Lodge (Montana State Prison) |
| Wyoming | Rawlins (Wyoming State Penitentiary) | ??? | Rawlins (Wyoming State Penitentiary) (6) |
Notes :
(1) Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar is the only facility in the Department of Defense designated to house female Level III inmates.
(2) Last death sentence reversed on 2007
(3) Closed in 2008 under David Paterson administration [2]
(4) No one on Death Row
(5) No clarified site for execution
(6) If an execution does occur, the state will use its parole board meeting room at the state prison
In Japan
Japanese death row inmates are imprisoned inside the detention centers of Kagoshima, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka (Takamatsu is the 8th city having High Court, but for unexplained reasons the Takamatsu Detention Center is not equipped with execution chamber so executions administered by the Takamatsu High Court are carried out in the Osaka detention center). Because they are awaiting execution, those on death row are not classified as prisoners by the Japanese justice system and the facilities they are held at are not referred to as prisons. Inmates lack many of the rights afforded to other Japanese prisoners. The nature of the regime they live under is largely up to the director of the Detention Centre, but it is usually significantly harsher than normal Japanese prisons. Inmates are held under solitary confinement and are forbidden communication with their fellows. They are permitted two periods of exercise a week – reportedly, inmates are not permitted to do even limited exercise within their own cell. They are not allowed televisions and may only possess three books. Prison visits, both by family members and legal representatives, are infrequent and closely supervised.
References
See also
- Live from Death Row
- The Green Mile
- The Chamber
- Dead Man Walking
- Capital punishment
- List of United States death row inmates
- List of exonerated death row inmates
External links
- Letters to and from José Medellín on Texas Death Row
- Last Words from Death Row Inmates
- Dead Man Eating - An up to date listing of Death Row inmates' last meals/words.
- Texas's official Death Row website
- Arizona Department of Corrections Death Row Information
- Photos from The Arizona Republic -- the faces of Arizona's Death Row
- Death row facts
- Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement D.R.I.V.E.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 3 December 2008, at 23:41.
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