A typical day in hell!

 TEXAS DEATH ROW

 

The psychological torture which is being inflected on death row inmates needs to be documented and presented to someone in authority with the power to stop this abuse.

 

A light in each cell is turned on remotely by the guard in the picket at random hours of the day and night, depending on the wants of the individual guards. The light is a a 2 foot by 4 foot fluorescent , four bulb fixture that is inset into the stainless steel wall above the toilet/sink combination. The cell is just shy of sixty square feet, which obviously floods the cell with bright light.

 

There is the noise of the steel barred gates being slammed shut every time the guards walk into any of the areas to the inmate cells, at all hours of the day and night. Envision a huge sheet of steel, eight foot by four foot being hit as hard as possible with a sledge hammer and the sound that it would make. Each time the guards walk in to any of the cell areas, that noise rings out throughout the entire pod of eighty-four cells.

 

Then there is also the sound made when the guard sticks the crow bar type device in, to open the food slot and slams the lid down. The same noise again as it is being slammed shut. The noise of the food slot being opened and shut is like dropping a metal sauce pan on the concrete floor in a small enclosed area.

 

Some guards carry this crow bar device around and use it to strike the metal doors to any cell where an inmate is sleeping. The guard hits it against the door when an inmate is asleep, just to get a rise out of him.

The guards laugh as they say they have to make sure you are still alive.

Other guards use a flash light and point it into your face until it wakes you. This is done every few hours.

 

When you couple this type of psychological torture with the extreme isolation of the inmates in these cells (where it is impossible to have any type of conversation with another human being due to the constant noise) it is obvious that any long-term exposure to these conditions will result in mental and physical breakdowns. This is cruel and unusual punishment.

 

Some guards treat all inmates like they are dogs, while others  just do their job without  all the abusive acts.

 

The difference between a death row inmate and an inmate doing time in population is mostly a matter of luck or lack of luck.

 

The death penalty will usually be sought by the courts because of the political aspirations of the district attorney that is trying the case or the district attorney learning the accused is unfortunate enough to not have the money to hire a decent attorney and therefore is given the "dregs" of the attorney pool that sit and wait appointments by the courts.

In either case, it is a biased decision to seek the death penalty.

 

Death row inmates have been thrown into this "hell" due to the actions of a few inmates. The majority of the people on death row are of a passive nature.

The work program that was allowed prior to Thanksgiving day escape of 1998 allowed death row inmates a chance to share legal issues and fight for their life.

Group religious services and recreation allowed the condemned man to live out their remaining years in an environment where they could reflect on their mistakes and teach others in the free world not to make the same mistakes.

Being allowed to do crafts and to watch television were simple answers to occupying the mind of the condemned.

 

Taking all this away and inflicting this barbaric treatment on men faced with the ultimate punishment is cruel and unusual punishment.

Twenty-three hours a day in a cell designed to punish is cruel and unusual punishment for death row inmates to endure for the years they have left awaiting their fate.

 

No human contact.

No human conversation.

It is hell on earth.....