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Are death penalty fans pleased or disappointed when a death row defendant dies of natural causes?

By Douglas A. Berman

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this local news item from California, headlined "Hammer murderer is latest to die naturally on Death Row." Here is the background: You'd think the biggest cause of death on California's Death Row would be execution.  After all, that's what the 712 prisoners on the row are there for, right?  Turns out it doesn't work that way. Robber-murderer Richard Ray Parson on Monday became the latest example illustrating that natural causes, not execution, are the leading cause of death on Death Row.  Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, California has executed 13 prisoners, while 53 have died of disease, old age or other natural reasons.  Another 18 have committed suicide. Executions have been on hiatus in the state since 2006 while a federal judge assesses whether the lethal injection method is humane...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 01, 2011 (boomark / email).