tangman99
Active Member
The death penalty is definitely needed IMHO. I worked a super maximum prison for 10 years and death row so I know first hand what someone on death row goes through. First off, let me say that there is a big misconception on protection in prison. Unless an inmate has court ordered mandatory protection, you can't force it upon anyone except under special circumstances. They have to request it. The ones that request it are usually --- offenders or a snitch that was identified. Asking for protective custody is almost the same as labeling yourself a snitch as that is the major population in protective custody. Everyone on protective custody is known by the general population because inmate runners work these wings to do house keeping and distribute meals. I've seen several inmates murdered in protective custody also so it is no guarantee of your protection.
Death Row is also not the end for many inmates. When you get sentenced to Death in Florida, you get an automatic appeal by law. Many will get resentenced to natural life during the long process of appeals which takes years. For most, it is always in the back of their mind, but the timeframes are so long, it does not really set in until you get your first death warrant signed and go to deathwatch where you are isolated, under 24 hour individual observation and on suicide prevention for the week prior to your execution.
Murders really don't stalk out and kill others either. Murders in prison are usually heat of the moment or retaliatory. Many are gang related while others are as meaningless as a gambling debt where someone owed a pack of cigarettes. It's not as common as you think.
It definitely does cost more to house someone on death row than life but you have to understand the reason. The physical costs are different due to individual housing and security vs open population (most murders and lifers are in open population after an initial period of supervision) but this is insignificant. The real cost is in legal appeals. As I mentioned, they are automatic in capital cases involving the death penalty and take years to complete. Most inmates serving a life sentence have to persue the appeals process on their own. Also, many inmates doing life for murder also accepted a plea bargain to get the death penalty off the table. These inmates plead guilty and don't get an appeal of the sentence.
Florida has since went to lethal injection since I left the system in 1993. However, no one ever survived the electric chair while it was in use. There were some questionable events that did take place, but the exection itself was always successful for lack of a better term. Is is painless? Who knows. I never witnessed or wanted to witness the execution. My job ended with preparation and carrying out the final stages of death watch. I don't care what these people did, you could not help but get to know them on a personal basis over the years you spent with them and it was always a strange and sometime sad feeling when you watched them being escorted out the door to the death chamber knowing that they were on their way to die. It's one of those things that you have to experience for yourself to understand it.
Death Row is also not the end for many inmates. When you get sentenced to Death in Florida, you get an automatic appeal by law. Many will get resentenced to natural life during the long process of appeals which takes years. For most, it is always in the back of their mind, but the timeframes are so long, it does not really set in until you get your first death warrant signed and go to deathwatch where you are isolated, under 24 hour individual observation and on suicide prevention for the week prior to your execution.
Murders really don't stalk out and kill others either. Murders in prison are usually heat of the moment or retaliatory. Many are gang related while others are as meaningless as a gambling debt where someone owed a pack of cigarettes. It's not as common as you think.
It definitely does cost more to house someone on death row than life but you have to understand the reason. The physical costs are different due to individual housing and security vs open population (most murders and lifers are in open population after an initial period of supervision) but this is insignificant. The real cost is in legal appeals. As I mentioned, they are automatic in capital cases involving the death penalty and take years to complete. Most inmates serving a life sentence have to persue the appeals process on their own. Also, many inmates doing life for murder also accepted a plea bargain to get the death penalty off the table. These inmates plead guilty and don't get an appeal of the sentence.
Florida has since went to lethal injection since I left the system in 1993. However, no one ever survived the electric chair while it was in use. There were some questionable events that did take place, but the exection itself was always successful for lack of a better term. Is is painless? Who knows. I never witnessed or wanted to witness the execution. My job ended with preparation and carrying out the final stages of death watch. I don't care what these people did, you could not help but get to know them on a personal basis over the years you spent with them and it was always a strange and sometime sad feeling when you watched them being escorted out the door to the death chamber knowing that they were on their way to die. It's one of those things that you have to experience for yourself to understand it.
