Trauma on Death Row: Should Offenders Have Peace in Their Final Moments?
I decided to discuss how trauma impacts those on death row in their final moments. This is a bit of a different approach to the subject of trauma in forensic psychology, but the prison system is complex and we need to think of all angles, and it is important to analyze and understand traumatic capital punishment. I did a lot of research on this subject in my undergraduate institution, but I was not afforded the opportunity to discuss the psychology behind it. First, I want to give a brief overview of the death penalty in the United States, then I will go into more detail about the ways we can reduce trauma and botched executions. Personally, I support the death penalty because of its historical and deterrent aspect. I am not, however, a “fan” of painful deaths, like lethal injection primarily. You might think that it is strange to believe that lethal injection can be painful, but it truly is. Once I explain why, it will become more apparent.
The death penalty and capital punishment have stirred up controversy since their inception. Lethal injection in particular has become a popular topic in corrections and social justice discussions. Glossip v. Gross (2015) upheld that lethal injection cocktails that use midazolam are constitutional because they do not cause excess pain [3]. The Court (Justices Alito, Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas) found that offenders can only challenge their method of execution if they can find a feasible alternative method. In Oklahoma, the offenders in this case were not able to provide an approved alternative. The burden of proof that the provided method would cause pain was weighed on the offender, not the state to provide, and this point was emphasized by the Court.
Since its inception, lethal injection has been thought to be the most humane method ever developed. In recent years, it has been challenged as more cases of botched executions come about. The botched executions of Clayton Lockett and Angel Diaz are recent well-known cases in the law community. Clayton Derrell Locket was executed in April 2014 in Oklahoma, when his execution by lethal injection went horribly wrong. At 38, he died of a heart attack after the lethal injection protocol failed. Witnesses recalled seeing him tense up and flinch multiple times throughout the execution [5]. It was reported that his veins had collapsed, and the staff had to use a vein in his groin area to administer the rest of the dose and complete the execution behind closed blinds in the death chamber.
Angel Diaz was executed in Florida in 2006 by lethal injection, when his execution was botched due to the needle missing the vein and injecting the execution cocktail into his soft tissue. He was awake for most of the execution and experienced chemical burns around the injection site, causing him to take more than a half hour to die while he remained in apparent pain [6]. Diaz’s skin turned black and peeled off at the burn sites. These “painful” deaths have brought the efficacy of lethal injection into question, like the cases discussed prior. Many alternative methods of execution are gaining momentum in states like Utah, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In Tennessee, some offenders have actually been able to request another method like electrocution. Nicholas Sutton, like four other inmates before him, chose to die by electrocution in 2018 [7]. These men chose this method because of the “extreme discomfort” that could be caused by lethal injection drugs. Apparently, these inmates understand that there is a chance of regaining consciousness and that pharmaceutical companies are making it much more difficult to obtain the necessary drugs (usually midazolam, vecuronium bromide, and potassium chloride).
There have been multiple attempts to replace lethal injection with nitrogen hypoxia, a gas method where all oxygen is depleted in an enclosed chamber and replaced with nitrogen gas. This causes the offender to simply lose consciousness and die of oxygen deprivation. Bucklew v. Precythe proved that this method is not widely practiced and tested, and therefore cannot be approved as an appropriate method. Factually, many people use this method in unassisted or assisted suicides. Further research needs to be conducted to determine the efficacy of this method.
How does this tie into trauma? Humans like to feel in control of every aspect of their lives, even death if possible. Hearing horror stories from other inmates about what awaits them while on death row can lead to serious psychological issues like paranoia, major depression, anxiety, and other disorders. Feeling out of control of it all only exacerbates the issue at hand. This can make the end of the offender’s life rather unbearable and can even make them physically ill. I think a reasonable approach would be to develop a feasible program that would allow for the offender to pick his or her own method of execution. They should be able to protest lethal injection if they so choose. Though the Supreme Court ruled in constitutional and that a painless death is not guaranteed, I believe that in the 21st century, we should reassess the potential for comfortability in capital punishment and weigh the humanity of the suffering that occurs.
I used to be in favor of not “caring” about the efficacy of the death penalty, because I believed that every person who was put to death deserved to die painfully. Ever since I lost a close friend to a violent death, I have changed my stance on that. I do not believe that anyone should die painfully or violently. Obviously it seems senseless to care about whether or not someone who is sentenced to die will experience trauma or emotional distress in their final years, months, weeks, and days, and it seems a bit late to be concerned about it because it will not cause any more violence by that offender. This is not entirely true, because offenders are highly likely to lash out at other inmates and get violent if they are provoked by trauma and paranoia. Additionally, the prisons that death row offenders are placed in are unusually tough environments, which by themselves can attribute to unwanted psychological damage. We discussed in class that trauma is causal to violence, wherein offenders are much more likely to commit a crime or get violent if they have experienced trauma, as a way of coping and expressing their frustrations. Psychological care should be more emphasized in prisons, particularly on death row. Therapists and counseling should be offered more frequently and consistently for these inmates who are approaching the end of their sentence.
Sources:
[1] Amber Widgery, Karen McInnes. States and Capital Punishment, National Conference of State Legislatures, 24 Mar. 2020, www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/death-penalty.aspx.
[2] Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008).
[3] Glossip v. Gross, No. 14-7955, 576 U.S. (2015).
[4] Bucklew v. Precythe, No. 17-8151, 587 U.S. (2019)
[5] Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections. “Clayton Derrell Lockett.” Clark Prosecutor, 30 Apr. 2014, www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/lockett1379.htm.
[6] Aguayo, Terry. “Florida Death Row Inmate Dies Only After Second Chemical Dose.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Dec. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/us/15death.html.
[7] Rojas, Rick. “Why This Inmate Chose the Electric Chair Over Lethal Injection.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/electric-chair-tennessee.html?auth=login-google.
[8] “Ronnie Lee Gardner.” Utah Department of Corrections, Clark Prosecutor, 18 June 2010, www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/gardner1217.htm.
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2021). Criminal behavior: a psychological approach. 12th Edition. Boston: Pearson.
Rousseau, D. (2021). Study Guide. Forensic Behavior Analysis. Boston University.