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death row

 
Dictionary: death row   () pronunciation
 
n.

The part of a prison for housing inmates who have received the death penalty. Also called death house.


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WordNet: death house
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the cellblock in a prison where those condemned to death await execution
  Synonym: death row


 
Wikipedia: Death row
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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.[1]

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, there were 3,263 prisoners awaiting execution in the United States.[2] 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.[3] However, Alderman only holds the distinction of being the longest-serving executed inmate so far. A Florida inmate, Gary Alvord, arrived on Florida's death row before Alderman arrived on Georgia's death row and, on 9 April 2009, Alvord had been on death row for exactly 35 years, [1] longer than any other United States death row inmate. The oldest prisoner on death row in the United States is Leroy Nash, age 93, in Arizona.

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 Quentin San Quentin State Prison Chowchilla (Valley State Prison for Women) San Quentin (San Quentin State Prison)
Texas Livingstone (Polunsky Unit) Gatesville (Mountain View Unit) Huntsville (Huntsville Unit)
New York (2) Dannemora (Clinton Correctional Facility) Bedford Hills (Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women) Beekman (Green Haven Correctional Facility) (3)
Florida Raiford (Union Correctional Institution) and 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
Ohio Youngstown (Ohio State Penitentiary) Marysville (Ohio Reformatory for Women) Lucasville (Southern Ohio Correctional Facility)
North Carolina Raleigh (Central Prison) Raleigh (North Carolina 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) Gig Harbor (Washington Corrections Center for Women) 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 [2] Nashville (Riverbend Maximum Security Institution) Nashville (Tennessee Prison for Women) Nashville (Riverbend Maximum Security Institution)
Maryland Baltimore (Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center) Jessup (Maryland Correctional Institution - Women) Baltimore (Metropolitan Transition 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 Women's Correctional Facility) 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) Niantic (York Correctional Institution) Somers (Osborn Correctional Institution)
Oklahoma McAlester (Oklahoma State Penitentiary) Oklahoma city McAlester (Oklahoma State Penitentiary)
Oregon Salem (Oregon State Penitentiary) Wilsonville (Coffee Creek Correctional Facility) 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) Gunnison (Central Utah Correctional Facility) Draper (Utah State Prison)
Idaho Boise (Idaho Maximum Security Institution) Pocatello (Pocatello Womens Correctional Center) Boise (Idaho Maximum Security Institution)
New Hampshire Concord Goffstown (New Hampshire State Prison for Women) (4)
South Dakota Sioux Falls (South Dakota State Penitentiary) Pierre (South Dakota Women's Prison) 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) Warm Springs Deer Lodge (Montana State Prison)
Wyoming Rawlins (Wyoming State Penitentiary) Lusk (Wyoming Women's Center) Rawlins (Wyoming State Penitentiary) (5)

Notes :

(1) Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar is the only facility in the United States 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 [3]

(4) No clarified site for execution

(5) 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.[citation needed]

References

See also

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Death row" Read more

 

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