In Robert Johnsons book Death Work, he discusses his strong argument against the death penalty. He raises several key points that question the morality of executions. He suggests that executions are cruel and unusual punishment, inhumane, and have negative effects on all people involved. To understand the death penalty, one must realize that it is a process that lasts much longer than the time it takes to hit the switch on the chair. In America today, the process usually lasts at least five years. The main goal of all death rows is the storage of bodies until they are ready to be killed.
This is where the cruel and inhumane treatment begins. The prisoners are treated as animals that are ready to be killed for meat. There is no privacy for these prisoners. They are watched very closely day and night. Due to their treatment and inevitable termination, inmates become in a state of complete powerlessness and emotional destruction. The terrible environments of death row confinement demoralize their inhabitants as a direct function of the settings emphasis on custodial repression. Death row inmates also suffer from loneliness and vulnerability.
The prisoners feel abandoned by the prison staff, treated like animals who are denied any kind of human compassion, and even treated like they have already died. They are sometimes chained to objects and stored in a completely desolate cell with no resemblance of human life. They live in an isolated hellish environment where they know that society has already decided that they no longer deserve to be alive. Since they are defenseless and totally alone, prisoners feel vulnerable to physical and mentally abuse from the officers.
To sum up life on death row, they give up on life as we normally know it. They exist rather than live. Besides the terrible treatment of the prisoners, the officers who participate in the death watch as well as the executioner also are affected negatively by the death penalty. It is difficult for the officers to consider their work just a job when they monitor such a terrible lifestyle as well as witnessing the execution. For the most part, relations between guards and inmates are generally either extremely hostile or non-existent with little contact.
To a great extent, fear is a problem for the officers. Monitoring the hostile life of convicted murderers is a scary task. In some cases, officers fear the prisoners threat of taking them hostage. Another fear is that a nervous officer will open the wrong door at the wrong time, hence leaving an opening for several prisoners to harm another officer. These fears are just part of the emotional anguish that prison guards suffer in their work. Although many claim that it is just a job, the death watch is something that affects prison guards mentally at all times.
Especially after reading this book, I am definitely in agreement with Johnsons arguments against the death penalty. Although it is the ultimate deterrent for could-be murderers, the negative impact on all involved outweighs the deterrence. I believe that death row inmates are treated like animals. These animals live in the most inadequate and harsh conditions until they are taken to the slaughterhouse. I believe that nobody deserves the inhumane treatment that is received by death row inmates.
When discussing the bathing procedures on death row, social scientists Jackson and Christian claim that a prisoner is being showered rather than taking a shower. Even in cases where guards treat the inmates in a fairly decent manner, life in solitary confinement is terrible. As one inmate said, We know within ourselves that no matter how courteous a guard tries to be to us, we know what he will do in the end. I think that the psychological burden on the officers is extremely severe.
They have to watch the prisoners closely at all times when they everyone involved is aware of the eventual end. I also believe that the decision of whether or not a criminal deserves the death penalty is very questionable. I dont think that there is a fine line between the severity of crimes that result in execution and those that do not. I believe that the decisions are often inconsistent and diseased with racism and discrimination. I am not sure how the correctional system would adapt to the removal of the death penalty, but I know that nobody should be exposed to this process.
