Death Row Phenomenon Essay: The Case Against The Death Penalty

In those lost years, one is kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, locked away with no social interaction. According to the American Civil Liberties Union’s article entitled “The Case Against the Death Penalty”, “Confinement conditions have been demonstrated to provoke agitation, psychosis, delusions, paranoia, and self-destructive behavior. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, “Death Row Phenomenon” refers to the destructive consequences of long-term solitary confinement and the inevitable anxiety that results from awaiting one’s own death, while “Death Row Syndrome” refers to the severe psychological illness that often results from Death Row Phenomenon” (8). The agonizing pain of knowing death is coming, slowly but surely, will drive someone over the edge into the depths of

The evidence that had incriminated Tafero and Jacobs unmistakable. Like ACLU explains in its article, “It consisted mainly of the perjured testimony of an ex-convict who turned state 's witness in order to avoid a death sentence. Had Tafero been alive in 1992, he no doubt would have been released along with Jacobs. Tafero’s execution went horribly wrong, and his head caught on fire during the electrocution” (9).
As you can see from the reality above, capital punishment is inhuman and sadistic. The 8th amendment of the constitution reads no cruel or unusual punishment. “In any case, execution is more than a punishment exacted in retribution for the taking of a life” (ACLU, 7). The definition of the word cruel is willfully causing pain or suffering to others. Extensively, officials are willingly executing the convicted and in some cases where error is present, there is suffering undoubtedly. Hence, a violation of the eighth amendment of the United States constitution is