Decades in Death’s Twilight

IF 0.4 Q2 Social Sciences New Criminal Law Review Pub Date : 2019-05-01 DOI:10.1525/NCLR.2019.22.2.140
Emily Gray
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Abstract

The average amount of time that death row inmates spend on death row has ballooned over the past decade, and for death row inmates in the state of Texas, the entire duration of that increased time will be spent in solitary confinement. This raises the following question: Is solitary confinement now considered to be part of the punishment, one that may be worse than the death penalty itself? This article discusses the history of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and cites scientific literature which posits that long-term solitary confinement can cause serious psychological damage. It examines “death row syndrome,” a term that refers to the psychological illness or disorder exhibited by an inmate who has spent a prolonged period of time in harsh conditions on death row. The article reviews the Polunsky Unit, which currently houses Texas’s death row and has been described as one of the worst prisons in the United States. The article also discusses the long history of Lackey claims, which allege that prolonged confinements under a death sentence breach the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The unresolved dissent within the Supreme Court regarding this subject is presented and discussed. This article contends that the prolonged solitary confinement of a Texas inmate on death row is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, and concludes that the only solution is to end the practice of automatic and permanent solitary confinement.
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《死亡的黄昏》中的几十年
在过去的十年里,死刑犯在死囚区度过的平均时间急剧增加,而对于德克萨斯州的死刑犯来说,增加的全部时间都将在单独监禁中度过。这就提出了以下问题:单独监禁现在是否被认为是惩罚的一部分,一种可能比死刑本身更严重的惩罚?本文讨论了美国监狱中单独监禁的历史,并引用了科学文献,认为长期单独监禁会造成严重的心理伤害。它研究了“死囚综合症”,这是一个术语,指的是长期在恶劣的死囚牢房中度过的囚犯所表现出的心理疾病或障碍。这篇文章回顾了波伦斯基监狱,这里目前关押着德克萨斯州的死囚,被形容为美国最糟糕的监狱之一。文章还讨论了“雷基诉讼”的悠久历史,该诉讼声称,死刑下的长期监禁违反了第八修正案禁止残忍和不寻常惩罚的规定。本文提出并讨论了最高法院内部关于这一问题的尚未解决的分歧。这篇文章认为,对德克萨斯州一名死囚的长期单独监禁违反了《第八修正案》,并得出结论认为,唯一的解决办法是结束自动和永久单独监禁的做法。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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期刊介绍: Focused on examinations of crime and punishment in domestic, transnational, and international contexts, New Criminal Law Review provides timely, innovative commentary and in-depth scholarly analyses on a wide range of criminal law topics. The journal encourages a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches and is a crucial resource for criminal law professionals in both academia and the criminal justice system. The journal publishes thematic forum sections and special issues, full-length peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, and occasional correspondence.
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