Purposes of Prison

1. Purposes of Prison • Mission statement of Federal Bureau of Prison • “to protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.” • Implies rehabilitation

2. Retribution: taking out society’s vengeance against a defendant Rehabilitation: help defendant mend his/her criminal ways and encourage to adopt a lawful lifestyle Deterrence: threat of prison is in place to deter people from committing crimes Punishment: lock up bad people to punish and get off our streets Politics: “tough on crime” campaigning gets votes Goals of Incarceration

3. History of Prison Systems in the United States • Can be traced to 2 systems in the 19th century • New York’s Auburn Prison (1817) • Eastern State Penitentiary @ Cherry Hill (1829) • Judge Morris Lasker • How should society deal w/ people who violate its rules and customs? • Punishment and sequestration of the offender in the hope of deterring him and others from committing futher offenses, or… • Redeeming the prodigal son so that, w/ a new set of values, he will internalize conformity w/ society’s rules.

4. History of Executions in the U.S. • Prior to 19th Century, hanging was the most common method. • Inexpensive and easily carried out • Painful, often taking 20 minutes for death to occur, and often resulted in decapitation • Long-drop introduced in late 19th century. • Hanging later fell out of favor in most jurisdictions. • Illegal Lynching-hanging that took place w/out authority permission • Delaware, New Hampshire, and Washington still offer hanging as a method of execution.

5. History of Executions in the U.S. • Electrocution • New York 1888 • William Kemmler • 1st man executed via electrocution (1890) • Firing Squad • Utah 1854 • Nevada 1911 • Lethal Gas • Nevada 1921 • Seen as an improved method of execution because did not disfigure or mutilate the body.

6. Abolishment of Execution • After WWII, many factors contributed to a movement against the death penalty. • Atrocities witnessed during the war • Civil Rights movement • ACLU and NAACP attempts to appeal death penalty cases • Abolition of death penalty in a number of Western countries • Weakening in public support for the death penalty.

7. Abolishment of Execution • Prior to 1920: • Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota abolish death penalty. • 1950’s and 1960’s: • 10 states abolish death penalty • Alaska, Hawaii, Delaware, Oregon, Iowa, Michigan, West Virginia, Vermont, New York, and New Mexico • By 1968, executions have ceased.

8. 1969 – Boykin v. Alabama 1970 – Maxwell v. Bishop 1971 – People v. Anderson 1972 – Furman v. Georgia Reinstatement After Furman v. Georgia 1976 – 35 states enacted new death penalty statutes July 2, 1976, Gregg v. Georgia Not Cruel and Unusual Cruel and Unusual Punishment

9. Some Federal Capital Crimes • Homicide related crimes: • 1st degree murder • Genocide • Retaliatory murder of a member of the immediate family of law enforcement • Murder… • Of a Federal judge or law enforcement official • During a kidnapping or hostage-taking • Of a court officer or juror • Related to rape or child molestation • Non-homicide crimes: • Espionage • Treason • Drug trafficking in large quantities

10. Capital Punishment 2001 Stats • 15 states and the Federal Government executed 66 prisoners during 2001. • Under sentence an average of 11yrs and 5 months. • 63 men and 3 women • 48 whites, 17 blacks, and 1 American Indian • Youngest death row inmate was 19 and oldest was 86. • All lethal injection • 3,581 prisoners were on death row • California (603), Texas (453), Flordia (372), and Pennsylvania (241). • 19 prisoners were on Federal death row

11. Capital Punishment 2002 Stats • 71 persons executed in 13 states • 53 white and 18 black • 69 men and 2 women • Lethal injection accounted for 70 of the executions and 1 was carried out by electrocution. • 3,557 prisoners on death row • All had committed murder.

12. Capital Punishment 2003 Stats • 65 inmates were executed in 11 states and the Federal system • 41 were white, 20 black, 3 Hispanic, and 1 American Indian • All 65 were men • 47 women were on death row, but none executed •  Lethal injection accounted for 64 of the executions • 1 execution was carried out by electrocution. • James Neil Tucker chose electrocution in South Carolina and was executed on May 28, 2004.

13. More Execution Info • Last state execution • November 4, 2004 • Robert Morrow, white male, age 47 • Crime • On April 3, 1996, Morrow abducted and murdered a 21-year old white female. • Texas by Lethal Injection • Robert Morrow • Last federal execution • March 18,2003 • Louis Jones, black male, decorated Gulf War veteran • Crime • Kidnap/Murder of young white female soldier, Pvt. Tracie Joy McBride • Links: • Federal Death Row Prisoners 2004 • United States Executions 2004

14. State Methods of Execution • Lethal Injection • Used my almost all states and also most frequently used method • Electrocution • Still offered by 9 states as an option • Lethal Gas • Still offered by Arizona, California, Missouri, and Wyoming as an option • Hanging • Still offered by Delaware, New Hampshire, and Washington as an option • Firing Squad • Still offered by Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah as an option

15. Since 1977… • Three inmates have been executed by hanging. • 2 in Washington and 1 in Delaware • The last hanging was in 1996 in Delaware. • Two inmates have been executed by firing squad. • Both took place in Utah, and the last was in 1996. • Nine inmates have been executed by lethal gas • The last taking place in North Carolina in 1994.

17. Why is it an Issue? • Cost • Executions as Entertainment • Violence on Television • Botched Executions • We are Killing in Our Name • Deterrence • First Amendment Rights

18. Both Sides Confused • Supporters of death penalty oppose public executions for fear of arousing sympathy, make public forget the crimes commited • Opponents believe the quick TV death would convey that execution is quick ,in reality long years of mental anguish spent on death row

19. Arguments Against… • Cost • Both a financial and emotional cost involved • Financial : Executing an individual costs twice what incarcerating an inmate would, even more if made a media event • Emotional : victims families not only now dragged through court systems, but now must be made to endure increased public exposure

20. Executions as Entertainment • Last U.S. public execution in 1920, people crowded + watched • An event which people came to watch for fun • Another example : Roman Gladiators

21. Violence on Television • Many studies have been conducted to show the affects of violence on television • Huesmann (1982) • “Children create and store in their memories problem-solving algorithms that are based in part on observation of others’ behavior.”

22. Bobo Doll Study • Bandura conducted study, 72 children participated • Children placed in room with adult who both physically and verbally abused an inflated Bobo dolls • When placed in a room alone, after being frustrated by not being allowed to play with toys, children who observed adults showing violence were much more likely to imitate their actions • Both physical and verbal abuse on the dolls

23. Teaching Violence • Our culture tries to teach our youth that violence is not an answer • Public executions would show that we approve of meeting violence with violence • Numerous experimental studies, many static observational studies, and a few longitudinal studies all indicate that exposure to dramatic violence on TV is related to violent behavior • Exposure to violence in mass media could cause both short and long term increases in a child’s aggressive and violent behavior (Berkowitz, Eron)

24. Botched Executions • Some believe that executions should not be televised because something may go wrong. • April 22, 1983. Alabama. John Evans. After the first jolt ofelectricity, sparks and flames erupted from the electrode attached to hisleg. The electrode then burst from the strap holding it in place andcaught on fire. Smoke and sparks came out from under the hood. Twophysicians entered the chamber and found a heartbeat. The electrode wasreattached to his leg. More smoke and burning flesh. Again doctors founda heartbeat. Ignoring the pleas of Evan's lawyer, Russ Canan(202-292-7676), a third jolt was applied. The execution took 14 minutesand left Evan's body charred and smoldering.

25. Botched Executions • Sept. 2, 1983. Mississippi. Jimmy Lee Gray. Officials had to clear theroom eight minutes after the gas was released when Gray's desperate gaspsfor air repulsed witnesses. His attorney, Dennis Balske of Montgomery,Alabama, criticized state officials for clearing the room when the inmatewas still alive. Says David Bruck, "Jimmy Lee Gray died banging his headagainst a steel pole in the gas chamber while reporters counted his moans(eleven, according to the Associated Press)"

26. Botched Executions • December 12, 1984. Georgia. Alpha Otis Stephens. After the first joltof electricity failed to kill him , Stephens struggled for eight minutesbefore a second charge finished the job. The first jolt took two minutes, and there was a six minute pause so his body could cool before physicianscould examine him (and declare that another jolt was needed.) During thatsix-minute interval, Stephens took 23 breaths. • March 13, 1985. Texas. Stephen Peter Morin. Had to probe both arms andlegs with needles for 45 minutes before they found the vein.

27. Not What You Expect • Many family members who watch executions leave feeling let down. • Executions are now clean, sterile, quick • As quoted from a grandmother who watched Timothy McVeigh die • “It was so quick and so sterile and so serene, it left me feeling angry” • Many don’t find the closure which they expect

28. Well-Publicized Executions • Most studies have found no effect in decline of homicides after well publicized executions, while some discover homicides increase after the execution. • Known as brutalization effect. • Effect of desensitizing people to the immorality of killing, increasing likelihood that some individuals will make decision to kill.

29. Arguments For.. • Capital punishment is by nature public. • It is killing by the state. Executions are done in our name. • Public executions allow society to take responsibility and acknowledge this. • Capital punishment is now an easily ignored act and just a matter of administration. Let’s us off the hook.

30. Out of sight, out of mind? • If the death penalty is legal then why hide it? Why be ashamed? • It is the legal and just way society responds to murder. • Albert Camus author of Reflections on the Guillotine: “One must kill publicly or confess that one does not feel authorized to kill.”

31. How is it different? • It is no worse than what has already been aired: • Film of JFK assassination • Tape of Jack Kevorkian injection Thomas Youk airing on “60 minutes” in 1998 • Live murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby on live TV Nov. 24th, 1963

32. Deterrence … • The most effective way to promote these are to make the execution public. • Maximize the level of deterrence • Deterrence is only as good as the degree to which it is publicized.

33. Why the other side advocates publicity… • Opponents of the death penalty support public executions and believe that if it were made public it would not survive. • It would force the system to justify each execution if done publicly. • Must weigh out and evaluate every aspect • Done both by the public and administration

34. It would raise questions regarding the merit and terms of the death penalty: • Why is a black man who kills a white man executed more often? • Before America decided to abolish it, the death penalty would become more humane. • Authorities could not afford a botched execution.

35. First Amendment Issues • It is the public’s right to know governmental proceedings, especially executions. • Capital punishment is the most severe form of punishment in our laws. • American’s can make up their mind on the capital punishment if given real knowledge and evidence. (Understand true workings of capital punishment) • This freedom of information keeps democracies healthy. • This is why the First Amendment is so important. • Media discrimination: pen/paper vs. camera

36. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2002) • The court struck down a Californian administrative rule which forbids the public viewing of the initial process of an execution. (California First Amendment Coalition v. Woodford) • The court ruled that the First Amendment right which allows access to governmental proceedings outweighs the state’s concern for the security of the execution staff.

37. Two Rationales: First Rational: • Eighth Amendment (Cruel & Unusual Punishment) interpretation: • The constitutionality for the death penalty depends on whether or not it is in accordance with… • “the evolving standards of decency which mark the progress of a maturing society” • Therefore, citizens must evaluate whether or not lethal injection (for example) is a “standard of decency.”

38. In order to do this, the court stated that citizens must have full access to the process and method of the death penalty. • Allows citizens to make a meaningful assessment which in turn the courts can rely on to interpret the Eighth Amendment. Second Rationale: • Public viewing promotes a communal expression of moral outrage.

39. Our Position • We believe that executions should be televised based on the fact that if we, as America, continue to use the death penalty we should not feel ashamed and hide the act from the public eye.

40. Resources • www.ojp.usjoj.gov • www.fcc.state.fl.us./fcc/reports/methods/emushist.html • www.deathpenaltyinfo.org • http://usgovinfo.about.com • www.nolo.com/lawcenter.com • www.penalrehab.org • http://people.howstuffworks.com/lethal-injection5.htm • Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin - Capital Punishment 2001, 2002, and 2003