The death penalty is a highly debated practice for many reasons. A few being the cost of execution via taxpayer dollars, the morality of state-sanctioned killing, and the idea of justice and closure for the families of murder victims. The most popular anti-death arguments pertain to the eighth amendment which is used to argue that… Continue reading Choosing Death: The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Death Row on the Condemned and the Practice of Volunteering for Execution
Entry #6- Gender disparity and the Death Penalty The topic of race and gender disparity in regards to the death penalty is a highly debated topic. Although race disparity is more common, sparking iconic Supreme Court cases such as Furman v. Georgia and implementation of the Gregg decision the latter, gender disparity, is commonly swept… Continue reading Gender disparity and the Death Penalty
Entry #4: A Brief History of the Execution of Women Since the beginning of time, the death penalty has been handed down to both men and women for death worthy offenses. Although the crimes which carry a sentence of death have changed, capital punishment has withstood the test of time. The origin of the death… Continue reading A Brief History of the Execution of Women 1632 – Present
The practice of volunteering for execution by stopping all appeals is not an uncommon occurrence on death row. It has been proven that death row conditions, specifically solitary confinement, have the potential to produce mental illness and conditions such as hallucinations, hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, and extreme anxiety, but what about inmates who commit murder just because they want to die? This was the case for James French and more recently, Christina Riggs. If inmates who wish to commit state sanctioned “suicide” are obliged, the message of the death penalty in itself is skewed, and concerns about the mental health process upon conviction, unearthed.
Webster's World 