Death Row Research Articles

Film intervention increases empathic understanding of formerly incarcerated people and support for criminal justice reform

Nuanced portrayals of stigmatized groups in media have been shown to reduce prejudice. In an online experiment (N = 749), we tested whether a feature film depicting incarcerated peoples' experiences in the criminal justice system can increase a) empathic accuracy and compassion toward people who have been incarcerated and b) support for criminal justice reform. We measured baseline empathic accuracy via a well-validated task, where participants infer the emotions of people sharing stories about difficult life events. All storytellers were formerly incarcerated and students. However, in half the videos we labeled them as "formerly incarcerated" and in the remaining half as "college student." We then surveyed people's baseline attitudes toward criminal justice reform. Next, we assigned participants to watch one of three films. The intervention film chronicled the true stories of Black men on death row. Two docudramas of similar length served as control films. Finally, participants completed the empathic accuracy task and survey again and were given the opportunity to sign a petition. Compared to those who watched a control film, participants who watched the intervention film more accurately inferred the emotions of storytellers labeled "formerly incarcerated," and increased their support for criminal justice reform. These effects held for conservative and liberal participants alike. However, the film had no effect on feelings of compassion. Together, these results demonstrate the power of narrative interventions to not only increase empathic accuracy for members of a severely stigmatized group, but to increase support for reforms designed to improve their lives.

Consistency in verbal expression of death row criminals: concluding life with emotions

IntroductionThere is a lack of both data and, more significantly, computational analyses of the linguistic behavior near an individual's final moments of life. The present study is aimed to reduce human bias and save time in psycholinguistic studies by providing data-backed insights.MethodsA novel machine learning based pipeline proposed, using elements of semantic similarity (BERT and transformers) and emotion extraction in collaboration, to analyze the final statements of death row inmates to understand the consistency in their verbal expression moments before their death. A new method of analysis was proposed in this study to explore the notions inherent in the statements. A large database of 466 final statements from death row inmates in Texas was utilized in this study. Manual notion analysis was validated by a computational method of notion inferencing.ResultsBasic emotions of Anger and Fear majorly dominated the statements, constituting 54% of the whole, while 21% of all statements were of emotional states of Happiness and Serenity.DiscussionThe outcomes of this study are expected to contribute to psychological analyses of humans, moments before death, and provide insights to criminology researchers to formulate better strategies of rehabilitation and debate the death penalty.

Death Penalty in the Lithuanian SSR in 1950–1990: Legal Grounds and Periods

The article reviews execution of death row inmates from the Lithuanian SSR between 1950 and 1990. It describes the procedure, the extension of the legal framework governing the enforcement of the death penalty, and the underlying trends. Four periods in the enforcement of the death penalty are discussed: 1) 1950–1952, when the majority of the death row inmates were shot down at the MGB internal prison in Vilnius; 2) 1952–1956, when the death row inmates were transported for execution to Butyrka prison in Moscow; 3) 1956–1969, when executions were carried out in Vilnius (criminals were shot dead in Lukiškių prison and political prisoners were shot dead in the KGB interrogation cell); 4) 1969–1990, when the death row inmates from the Lithuanian SSR profile were executed in the interrogation cell in Minsk (Byelorussian SSR). Between 1950 and 1990, 590 people in one or other way related to the Lithuanian SSR were shot or hanged; this figure includes 116 death row inmates shot in Moscow in 1952–1956, 87 death row inmates shot in Minsk in 1967–1990, 29 death row inmates convicted by Kaliningrad and Kirov courts and executed in Vilnius, and 8 Soviet Army officers sentenced to death and shot in Vilnius. The analysis of the personal stories of inmates and the dynamics of executions show that there was an essential breakthrough about 1956 when the number of political prisoners dropped considerably while the number of criminals started increasing rapidly. This trend allows us to explain a new role of the death penalty in the overall punishment system after 1956, specifically that it predominantly became a tool for combating crime, rather than for annihilating political opponents.

Do not Punish, Show Mercy: Clemency for the Condemned in Soviet Lithuania in 1954–1990

The article is concerned with the process of granting mercy to prisoners on death row in Soviet Lithuania. The Group for Granting Mercy consisting of members of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the LSSR and other Soviet institutions (the Supreme Court of the LSSR, Public Prosecutor’s Department etc.) had the right to grant (or not to grant) mercy to convicts. From 1954 the group deliberated on a permanent basis requests for mercy of condemned criminals; from 1957 it deliberated clemency requests of political prisoners sentenced to death. Every individual facing the death penalty had the right to request for clemency. Besides, such requests were often submitted by his/her family, lawyers or other persons interested in the case. The strategy of clemency requests is different for different categories of the condemned: criminals sentenced to death were inclined to appeal to feelings, wrote about their young age, no criminal past, and being under the influence; economic criminals employed legal motifs and collaboration with the investigators; condemned to death political prisoners used a certain period of time (most often the time when they were in hiding) when their attitude to the Soviet regime was not hostile and it could serve as an evidence that they could be pardoned, could improve their behaviour and become “Soviet people”. Mostly clemency requests of condemned to death criminals (31.2 % of women) were granted; requests of economic (15.4 %) or political (7.1%) prisoners with capital sentences were fewer. Over the period under discussion, the Group for Granting Mercy of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the LSSR deliberated a total of 301 requests for mercy submitted by the condemned to death, out of whom 77 individuals were pardoned. Seven more persons were absolved by the Presidium of the supreme Council of the USSR, which had more powers. Consequently, a total of 84 persons sentenced to death had their sentence commuted in the LSSS (27.9 % of all persons under death sentence).

Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (2023) Ghosts Over the Boiler: Voices from Alabama’s Death Row. Katie Owens-Murphy (Ed.). Vanderbilt University Press

Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (2023) Ghosts Over the Boiler: Voices from Alabama’s Death Row. Katie Owens-Murphy (Ed.). Vanderbilt University Press

Serial Murderers In Japan (1882-2017): A Narrative Analysis

A retrospective narrative analysis of 61 serial murder-ers (a few, belonging to health care profession, such as physicians, midwives and paramedic) in Japan was attempted. Materials available in the online databases including Wikipedia entries on individual criminals were studied. Among the studied total of 61 serial murderers covering the time span from 1882 to 2017, 59 were convicted and 2 were non-convicted. All five categories of Deitz typology of serial murderers were represented among the convicted sample. These include, psychopathic sex-ual sadists (e.g: Ryuun Daimai, Yoshio Kodaira, Genzo Kurita, Kiyoshi Okubo, Takahiro Shiraishi), crime spree killers (e.g: Kanae Kijima, Chisako Kakehi), custodial killers (e.g: Shige Sakakura, Miyuki Ishikawa and Hayato Imai), psychotic, religious-cult killers (e.g: Sachiko Eto, Shoko Asahara and his 12 collaborators) and organized crime functionaries (e.g: Satoru Nomu-ra). Tomomasa Nakagawa, personal doctor of the Aum Shinrikyo Buddhist religious-cult leader Shoko Asakara, may hold a record for a scientist on death row to publish a paper in a peer-reviewed journal.Limitations of this study include, (1) omission of the methods of killing used by the murderers from analysis (2) total reliance on media reports for information, in preference to voluminous records of Japanese court cases. Despite these limitations, details presented in this analysis of 59 convicted and 2 non-convicted se-rial murderers in 45 court cases held in Japan may be useful for comparative studies in forensic science and law enforcement.

Penerapan Grasi Dalam Perspektif Hukum Pidana Bagi Terdakwa

In the presidential system of government, there are prerogative rights that are only owned by the head of state as the leader of the country. Clemency is regulated under Law Number 5 of 2010 on Clemency on the amendement of Law Number 22 of 2022 on Clemency. One of the uses of prerogative rights is to provide relief to several convicts by granting clemency. The granting of clemency by the President is based on humanity and without any interference from other parties or other state institutions. Although the granting of clemency is in the hands of the President due to the ownership of the prerogative, the consideration of granting clemency must be considered by the Supremen Court, the Prosecutor, and the Minister of Law and Human Rights so that there is cooperation between the relevant legal institutions. Clemency is utilized by several convicts, especially death row convicts, to cut the sentence imposed on them so that the executive of the sentence becomes shorter from the first time the decision is read out by the judge at the first level court.

Analisis Psikologis pada Naskah Monolog HARI TERAKHIR SEORANG TERPIDANA MATI Karya Victor Hugo

Psychology in the Monologue Script "The Last Day of a Death Row Convict" by Victor Hugo discusses the psychology of the main character in the text. This script shows the main character who is on death row and experiencing significant psychological changes. This analysis uses a psychoanalytic approach to understand how the main character faces the death penalty and how these psychological changes influence his behavior. The results of the analysis show that the main character experiences complex and dynamic psychological changes. He experienced depression, hopelessness, and anxiety related to the death sentence he faced. The conclusion of this analysis is that Victor Hugo's "The Last Day of a Death Row Convict" presents a complex and dynamic main psychological character. Psychoanalysis helps understand how the main character faces the death penalty and how these psychological changes influence his behavior. The results of this analysis can be used to understand the psychology of individuals who face difficult situations and how they develop strategies to deal with these situations.

Rehabilitation of Death Row Inmates in Correctional Facilities in Connection with Law Number 1 of 2023 on the National Penal Code of Indonesia

Rehabilitation of Death Row Inmates in Correctional Facilities in Connection with Law Number 1 of 2023 on the National Penal Code of Indonesia

Death penalty in Indonesia: between criminal law and Islamic law perspectives

This study seeks to discuss the implication of the regulation of the death penalty following the promulgation of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Penal Code which has changed the standing of the death penalty from basic punishment to special punishment seen from the perspectives of positive law and Islamic law. This study employed socio-legal methods, presenting two primary issues of the reconstruction of the regulation concerning the death penalty in Indonesia and how Islamic law reinforces the reconstruction of the regulation of the death penalty in Indonesia. This study has brought to the following two conclusions: notwithstanding its application of the death penalty in the country, Indonesia is attempting to restrict its application. The reformed Criminal Law, particularly after the promulgation of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning Criminal Law, adjourns the death penalty, while the defendant on a death row is given a chance to fix his/her attitude for a particular period (10 years). When the defendant demonstrates a good attitude within this time frame, the imposed death penalty is superseded by imprisonment. This policy is intended to serve as the last resort when the defendant cannot be corrected and as the middle way of balancing between the pros and cons of the death penalty in Indonesia. Moreover, Islamic values as the source of law are also behind these pros and cons, reinforcing the existence of the death penalty in Indonesia, considering that the death penalty from the Islamic view remains recognized as one of the applicable punishment practices.

US Death Row Literature and Public Mobilization against Capital Punishment

Abstract: The paper introduces a question of how narrative studies can contribute to abolition of the death penalty in the United States. A second section maps a history of Death Row narratives from incarcerated people and witness memoirs, including early American narratives, Sacco and Vanzetti, Caryl Chessman, and contemporary writers such as Albert Woodfox. This historicization lays a foundation for treating Death Row literature as a coherent witness genre. A third theoretical section argues that the major work of narratives opposed to the death penalty lies in humanization of condemned prisoners and assertion of a human right to life, yet this is an insufficient and flawed argument. Death Row literature from incarcerated people represents an inherent claim on citizenship and protection of a right to life, not sentimentalism. The paper closes by arguing that to have credibility and effect, writing from observers outside prisons demands an encircling link between witness and activism.

Sikap dan Perbuatan Terpuji Sebagai Syarat Modifikasi Pidana Mati

This article aims to explain commendable attitudes and actions or good behavior referred to in law as a condition for modifying the death penalty and aims to understand the concept of commendable attitudes and actions from the perspective of Islamic criminal law. The problem focuses on the commendable attitudes and actions referred to in Article 100 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. This is ambiguous because the indicators and benchmarks for the commendable attitudes and actions in question have not been clearly regulated so they are very subjective. The writing method uses a normative approach and data collection techniques use library research. This research is descriptive and aims at problem-solution. The results of the research show that the concept of commendable attitudes and actions in Islamic Criminal Law towards death row inmates for the crime of premeditated murder has several indicators, namely: 1. Feeling of regret; 2. Responsible for his actions; 3. There is a desire to repent; 4. Get forgiveness from the victim's family. The achievement of this commendable attitude and action is to obtain forgiveness from the victim and pay compensation to the victim's family. The concepts exemplified by Islamic criminal law should be adapted into positive criminal law to explain the meaning of commendable attitudes and actions in order to achieve justice, certainty and usefulness of the law.

Quo Vadis: Regulating Independence Coaching for Death Row Inmates in Indonesian Correctional System

<em>The death penalty, one of the punishment types regulated in the Indonesian Criminal Code, continues to be imposed despite conflicts between abolitionists and retentionists. The existence of the death penalty in Indonesia has a legal consequence, which is the need for legal certainty regarding the status of death convicts, who are often entrusted to a Correctional Facility during the waiting period for execution. The enactment of Law Number 22 of 2022 classifying death row inmates as prisoners, along with their rights and obligations. This research uses legal research supported by data from interviews with experts. Data obtained from literature research was analyzed descriptive-qualitatively. The result showed that death row inmates must participate in coaching programs like other prisoners. The coaching program was divided into two parts: character and independence coaching. From the aspect of practicality, character coaching is more beneficial for death row inmates compared to independence coaching, as death row inmates would not return to society and would be waiting for their execution time unless their clemency request was granted. </em>

Dehumanization Through Degendering the Death Row Inmate: A Systematic Review of the Research.

Purpose: To provide an overview of how gender identity is treated in death row research. Methods: By use of a systematic review of 56 peer-reviewed journal articles that were identified as empirical, employing either qualitative or quantitative data, concepts measuring the use of gender and race identity were developed. Results: Findings were presented by the methodology employed, area of research, sample composition, and key concepts which included the use of gendered terminology in titles, abstracts, and manuscripts, as well as by the author(s)'s gender identities. Conclusion: In general, regardless of methodology or area of research, death row research does not account for the effects of gender or intersectional identities unless the sample participants or subject matter pertains to women.

Gender Discrimination in Iran’s Capital Punishment System

This study explores gender discrimination and sex bias in Iran’s capital punishment system, reviewing the story of women on death row in Islamic and totalitarian criminal justice systems. It reaches back to the classical Islam to trace how and why sharia law discriminates against women. It discuses original findings and is the first research to focus on execution of women in Iran. A small but emerging body of literature focuses on capital punishment in Iran but does not examine gender in detail. The role of Iran’s Islamic criminal justice system for women, particularly in the context of changes and gender bias after the Islamic revolution, is examined. There is substantial literature on mariticide (women killing their husbands) and filicide (women killing their children), but insufficient literature on gender discrimination in Iran’s capital punishment system. This study provides a profile of 155 women and examines how decision-making in an Islamic criminal justice system has influenced these cases.

Konsep Pidana Mati dan Pandangan Subjektif Hukum Terhadap Rentang Waktu Eksekusi Mati di Indonesia

The imposition of the death penalty by a judge on a death row convict is the heaviest sentence in convicting a defendant in court, the imposition of the death penalty is the fairest possible sentence. The aim of this research is to provide an overview of the concept of the death penalty and the legal subjective view of the time span for executions in Indonesia. The research method used is normative literature. The death penalty in Indonesia needs to be applied as the heaviest punishment given by the defendant or convict because the death penalty is the heaviest punishment and is a form of criminal law's firmness in law enforcement in Indonesia. Next, it is necessary to look at the time span after a death row convict receives a death sentence.

Beschuldigd van intrafamiliaal geweld voor het Hof van Assisen van het Scheldedepartement / de provincie Oost-Vlaanderen, 1811–1867

Summary Accused of domestic violence before the Assize Court of the Scheldt Department / Province of East Flanders, 1811-1867. – Studying the criminal prosecution of intrafamily violence in the Scheldt department / province of East Flanders between 1811 and 1867 is only possible by consulting the archives of the Assize Court of that region. Because this Assize Court only dealt with the most serious criminal cases, one can only study the tip of the iceberg. Between 1811 and 1867, the Assize Court of the Scheldt Department / Province of East Flanders in Belgium treated 203 criminal cases involving interfamily violence. 107 (53%) of these cases involved violence against a child and in 94 of those 107 cases (88%) an infanticide. In total 103 people were charged with an infanticide, but in the end only 38 were punished with death, being the then legal punishment for this crime. All other accused were acquitted or, after a reclassification of the facts listed in the indictment, sentenced for another crime such as an involuntary manslaughter of a child or concealing a child. The main reason for this was the fact that an infanticide, which was usually committed without witnesses, was very difficult to prove. Thirteen other criminal cases for violence against a child dealt with violence against a no longer new-born child. The Court of Assizes applied the normal penalties in these criminal cases. This usually involved mostly intentional manslaughter, murder or attempted murder of such a child. In the period 1811–1867, the Court of Assize also tried 73 people for violence against a parent or grandparent. Of those 73 persons, 15 were acquitted and 58 (7 women and 51 men) punished. Three persons accused of elder murder were punished: one for intentionally beating his father, one for murdering his father and one for murdering his mother. The 55 other accused were punished for intentional hits on an ascendant. Partner violence was the category of interfamily violence that was least dealt with by the Assize Court. In total, the Assize Court handled only 25 criminal cases for marriage partner violence, involving 27 people as perpetrators or accomplices. Six of those 25 criminal cases dealt with poisoning of the partner and 12 criminal cases with murder or attempted murder of the partner. In only five of the last 12 criminal cases, the accused was sentenced to death, but in the end only one of them was guillotined. The four other death row inmates were given a kingly grace who commuted their death sentences to a hard labour. In the other seven of those 12 criminal cases, the case was reclassified to intentional manslaughter or intentional hits and wounds and punished as such. The Assize Court also treated five criminal trials in which a person was charged from the outset with intentional manslaughter of the marriage partner. In three of those five criminal cases, the accused was also punished for such intentional manslaughter, in one of those five criminal cases, the offences were reclassified to intentional hits and wounds causing illness or disability of more than twenty days, and in one of those five criminal cases, the accused was acquitted. Finally, the Assize Court also treated two criminal cases in which a person was charged from the outset with intentional hits and wounds against his marriage partner. In one of those two criminal cases, after a reclassification of the facts, the Court sentenced the accused to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 200 francs. In the second criminal case the accused was acquitted.

The Use of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Death Row.

Despite high rates of mental illness among incarcerated people in the United States, use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains limited in jails and prisons. There are some published guidelines regarding the provision of mental health care, including ECT, in U.S. correctional facilities, but little attention has been paid to the use of ECT for individuals sentenced to death. This article examines ECT within the context of the death penalty, including court consideration of ECT in capital cases and historic uses of ECT to facilitate execution of people on death row. Given the unique clinical, legal, and ethics considerations in the use of ECT for people sentenced to death, the authors call for greater attention to these practices and propose general guidelines regarding the use of ECT in this population.

Palliating in Avoidable Death: Reconciling Psychiatrists' Roles as Treaters on Death Row With Participation in a System of Overt Harm

Abstract Although nations across the globe have eliminated capital punishment, the United States remains one of the few countries in the Americas and Europe that still uses execution. There has been little discussion around the implications of psychiatry's involvement in providing care to incarcerated individuals awaiting death. The following perspective examines the United States as an example of a democratic and highly developed country where the death penalty remains an undeniable reality; the piece provides a brief discussion on psychiatry's relationship with end-of-life care to provide context for subsequent discussion on the role of the psychiatrist on death row in the United States. Medicolegal and ethical considerations are further outlined to identify specific concessions that might be made by the US criminal justice system to truly allow death row psychiatrists to practice to the highest standard of compassionate care.

Infinite Hope: How Wrongful Conviction, Solitary Confinement, and 12 Years on Death Row Failed to Kill My Soul by Anthony Graves Boston: Beacon Press (2018) 224 pp.

Infinite Hope: How Wrongful Conviction, Solitary Confinement, and 12 Years on Death Row Failed to Kill My Soul by Anthony Graves Boston: Beacon Press (2018) 224 pp.