# Aside from finding evidence for exoneration, why have inmates spend 10-30 years on death row? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 27, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588 "2019-03-27T01:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/21 "2019-03-28T01:15:48Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > I can understand that but what about those without a reasonable doubt that they did the deed? EVERYBODY on death row is there because they have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It just so happens that “without a reasonable doubt that they did the deed” [does not in fact mean they did the deed](https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/), because the American criminal justice system has a number of serious flaws. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/22 "2019-03-28T01:43:00Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > EVERYBODY on death row is there because they have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. > > It just so happens that “without a reasonable doubt that they did the deed” [does not in fact mean they did the deed](https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/), because the American criminal justice system has a number of serious flaws. Well, that’s rather fighting the question, though. There are instances of murder where it is full-out obvious who the murderer is. Take Jack Ruby, for instance - shot someone dead on live TV in front of millions. Do you think his guilt was seriously in question? ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/23 "2019-03-28T01:43:08Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > I can understand that but what about those without a reasonable doubt that they did the deed? It’s great that someone with no claimed legal or corrections experience understands the system well enough to fix it, but have you considered that it might be more complicated than you realize? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/24 "2019-03-28T01:50:45Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well, that’s rather fighting the question, though. There are instances of murder where it is full-out obvious who the murderer is. Take Jack Ruby, for instance - shot someone dead on live TV in front of millions. Do you think his guilt was seriously in question? That’s the point I was making. I just word it wrong. I meant something that was quite obvious. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/25 "2019-03-28T03:33:38Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well, that’s rather fighting the question, though. There are instances of murder where it is full-out obvious who the murderer is. Take Jack Ruby, for instance - shot someone dead on live TV in front of millions. Do you think his guilt was seriously in question? Out of the almost 3,000 people on death row right now, exactly how many of them are this obvious? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/26 "2019-03-28T03:46:51Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well, that’s rather fighting the question, though. There are instances of murder where it is full-out obvious who the murderer is. Take Jack Ruby, for instance - shot someone dead on live TV in front of millions. Do you think his guilt was seriously in question? Was Jack Ruby legally sane at the time and did he possess sufficient _mens rea_ to support conviction? (Texas, then and now, recognizes insanity as a possible defense, and in fact that WAS the basis of Ruby’s defense; his lawyers argued that he had both personal and familial history of mental illness.) What full-out obvious and unimpeachable evidence would you present to prove his sanity? There are other possible arguments where a person committed the deed but is not guilty of the crime: self defense, for example, or compulsion. As it happens, Jack Ruby’s initial conviction was overturned on appeal: the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously ruled that he could not have received a fair trial and proper consideration of his defense in the highly-charged atmosphere of Dallas, and they remanded the case for a change of venue. Ruby died before that second trial took place. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/27 "2019-03-28T04:51:44Z")
I would also presume they are lower priority. You’ve got 'em locked up, so there’s no real reason to rush. There’s not much lost in letting them take their time. At the very least, appeals cases in situations with people not in jail would take priority. I also note that states have also had difficulty actually doing the killing, since lethal injection requires medical training to do correctly and a pharmacy willing to make the drugs, with both tending to put saving lives above causing death. There are even reports of a state hiding why they want to buy the drugs because the sellers wouldn’t sell it to them if they knew. And even if you are willing to do it, ending someone’s life does not tend to be something you are eager to do unless it’s personal. But, yeah, it’s mostly just giving time for the process to complete to avoid any chance that they would be exonerated, and because it’s in the best interested of the convicted to draw it out. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/28 "2019-03-28T10:48:26Z")
Sucks to be the one that push the button. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/29 "2019-03-28T11:24:14Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > The biggest problem, of course, was that at no point was his attorney or the state’s attorney assigned just to this case; they were all juggling multiple cases, and a really big and complex and important but not particularly urgent case tends to slip to the bottom of the pile. Clearly we don’t have enough lawyers in this country, if they’re all too busy to work on a death penalty case. [/sarcasm] [/not at you, at the system] ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/30 "2019-03-28T13:16:39Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > It’s the cost of making sure you’re executing the correct person for a crime they actually committed that drives up the bill. If you sentence them to life in prison and then figure out they really didn’t do the deed, you can open the prison gates; if you’ve executed them, raising them from the dead is just a tad more difficult. As the sole survivor of the Connecticut home invasion Dr. William Petit, who lost his wife and daughters to two men who broke into their house, tortured them and then set the house on fire, said “Do you want a criminal justice system based on economics?” The two men who did this agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison. The prosecutor did not agree, and went to trial. The two men are now on Connecticut’s Death Row. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/31 "2019-03-28T14:32:07Z")
The murderers of William Petit’s wife and two daughters aren’t on death row any longer. The state supreme court [declared](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire,_Connecticut,_home_invasion_murders#Subsequent_developments_in_Connecticut_capital_punishment_law) capital punishment inconsistent with the state constitution and commuted the sentences to life without parole. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/32 "2019-03-28T14:36:17Z")
Fuck. How can they defend keeping these two assholes alive? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/33 "2019-03-28T15:25:47Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Sucks to be the one that push the button. I’m pretty sure we could auction off the rights. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/34 "2019-03-28T15:26:28Z")
At least the assholes stay locked up. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/35 "2019-03-28T15:30:36Z")
If you are on death row and there is evidence that you may not be guilty there are groups that will help you for free. If you get life there is less help available. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/36 "2019-03-28T16:22:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > That being said, aside from exoneration possibility, is there any other valid reason, or purpose, in having someone sit on death row for 10-30 years before they get executed? With enough long-term semi-solitary confinement, there’s always the chance the prisoner will go nuts, and then his supporters can argue that the state mustn’t execute an insane prisoner. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/37 "2019-03-28T16:25:13Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Sucks to be the one that push the button. I could be mistaken but I believe that all executioners in America volunteer for the job and nobody can be compelled to do it against their will. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/38 "2019-03-28T18:21:35Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > At least the assholes stay locked up. [They](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg_Correctional_Center) [don’t](https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/crime/article24623602.html) [always, and even when they do, it doesn’t always help.](https://newsok.com/article/700008/prisoners-on-death-row-in-terre-haute) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/39 "2019-03-28T18:34:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > If you are on death row and there is evidence that you may not be guilty there are groups that will help you for free. If you get life there is less help available. Cite? The various innocence projects don’t restrict their actions to capital cases, or even to murder cases. [Example](https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/richard-alexander/) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588/40 "2019-03-28T19:13:21Z")
And the purely anti-DP groups don’t even care if you have evidence that you aren’t guilty. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-finding-evidence-for-exoneration-why-have-inmates-spend-10-30-years-on-death-row/831588.md?page=3)