Protestations of the Condemned: A Content Analysis of Death Row Inmates' Last Statements

Background and Purpose:  In the 32 states that have maintained the legality of the death penalty since its reinstatement by the United States Supreme Court in 1976 (Gregg v. Georgia), condemned prisoners in their final moments are given the opportunity to speak their “last words.” A small body of literature has begun to examine the various features and phenomena within these statements, including forms of self-representation, narratives and rituals, and expressions of remorse, religiosity and spirituality. Although some of this research takes into account claims of innocence and other conveyances of objection, no existing studies have focused solely on oppositional statements (i.e., opposition to one’s own death sentence or to capital punishment broadly). This is an important shortcoming given of the proportion of death row inmates (in Texas, roughly 9%) who unequivocally profess their innocence. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the targets, forms, and valences of death row prisoners’ final protestations before their executions.

 

Methods:  All last statements of the 524 inmates executed within the state of Texas from December, 1982 through April, 2015 were extracted from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website (http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_executed_offenders.html). These were initially reviewed by the two coauthors independently in order to identify instances wherein prisoners made statements of protest or objection, or claimed innocence. The authors then collaboratively refined the inclusion criteria. Eighty-seven statements of opposition were identified then entered into HyperResearch qualitative software. The qualitative content analysis involved an iterative, multi-round coding process and the identification of thematic categories.

Findings:  This inductive data analysis reveals a range of expressions within four emergent dimensions. Quality of coping entails a variety of responses to one’s impending execution, the most common being expressions of resignation and/or ambivalence. Identified/unidentified audience captures the ways in which inmates address different categories of individuals present (e.g.. statements of innocence directed at the family members of alleged victims) and the degree to which they specify their audiences. Identified bearers of injustice refers to whom the inmate feels has been wronged (e.g., the self, the community). Lastly, perceived forms of injustice captures inmates’ beliefs regarding the mechanisms and scope of injustice (e.g., denial of due process).  

Conclusions and Implications:  The veracity of inmates’ statements—particularly claims of innocence—is unknown and subject to legitimate skepticism. Nevertheless, the frequency of explicit, unequivocal claims of innocence in this sample (47 of the 524 total), along with cases of death row inmates exonerated in recent years, may raise questions about the rectitude of capital punishment. Furthermore, these findings suggest a high degree of turmoil consistent with existing literature on the significant rates of mental illness, suicidality and psychological distress among death row inmates. As the field of forensic social work continues to expand, and social workers are increasingly employed as mitigation specialists in capital punishment cases, it is important that the profession critically examine the experiences of condemned prisoners and their treatment within the criminal justice system. These findings will serve to inform practitioners working on behalf of this exceptionally marginalized population.