Death row - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

Death row is defined as the section of a prison that holds prisoners who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting�execution.

Overview:

An extended stay on death row does not violate the�Eighth Amendment, although the court contemplated this issue in�Lackey v. Texas, 514 U.S. 1045 (1995).�In�Lackey,�the Supreme Court denied certiorari to a defendant who claimed his 17 years on death row violated the�Eighth Amendment.�While the Court deferred to the discretion of lower courts on this issue, the decision left open the possibility of future Supreme Court review. �The Supreme Court, however, has continued to deny certiorari in subsequent cases, including�Foster v. Florida, 537 U.S. 990 (2002)�(27 years on death row);�Knight v. Florida, 528 U.S. 990 (1999)�(19 years on death row); and�Valle v. Florida,�132 S.Ct. 1 (2011) (33 years on death row).

Relying in part on the Supreme Court�s continued refusal to review the issue, lower Federal Courts have not found an extended stay on death row to be unconstitutional.�In�Smith v. Mahoney, 596 F.3d 1133 (2010), the Ninth Circuit held that 25 years on death row did not violate the�Eighth Amendment.� In�Reed v. Quarterman, 504 F.3d 465 (2007), the Fifth Circuit held that a 24-year delay in execution did not violate the�Eighth Amendment.� In�Thompson v. Sec'y for the Dep't of Corr., 517 F.3d 1279 (2008), the Eleventh Circuit held that 31 years on death row did not violate the�Eighth Amendment.�