Clutching at Life, Waiting to Die: The Experience of Death Row Incarceration

This paper seeks to answer whether the official post-sentence process experienced by the condemned awaiting execution creates conditions of cruelty that can invalidate the legality of the death sentence. The study addresses the Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case based on the issue of delay in the application of the death penalty, and examines the standards that have been set by international courts in Africa and the Commonwealth Caribbean in restricting the post sentencing process to a limited time frame in which the state has to carry out the execution, after which the death sentence becomes invalid. The paper also looks at research on the experience and impact of death row incarceration, and presents a case study of the writings of condemned author Caryl Chessman to examine the validity of research findings. The paper concludes that protracted delay in carrying out the death penalty increases the harshness of the punishment to a threshold that renders the sentence cruel and thus unlawful.