California’s Death Row

As of March 15, 2006 California had 634 men on death row in San Quentin. In the California Institute for Women in Frontera, 14 women are on death row. California has the second highest number of inmates on death row, exceeded only by Texas. Although California has one of the largest numbers of prisoner on death row, it has one of the lowest rates of actual executions. California has 20 % of the nation’s death row inmates but only 1% of its executions. Since 1977, when the death penalty was re-instituted in California, death row inmates were most likely to die of old age. Since 1977 only 14 of California’s death row inmates have been executed, 20 died of natural causes, and 12 committed suicide. No woman has been executed since 1962.

It costs 114 million dollars a year to house inmates on California’s death row plus many more millions in court costs. It costs $90,000 more per year to house a death row inmate as compared to a regular inmate. California seems to be very conflicted over the death penalty. On the one hand a rather large number are sentenced to death but only a handful are actually put to death.

California’s last execution was in January of 2006. A 76 year old Native American inmate of death row was executed by lethal injection. He required two shots of potassium chloride to die.

The Supreme Court of California is required to hear all death penalty cases and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the hearing of most appeals brought to it. The 9th Circuit Court then sends many cases back to the lower courts.

In 1980 a consent decree mandated certain improved treatment of inmates on California’s death row. Prisoners are allowed five hours a day in the exercise yard. They are offered a high school course through a cell-study program. They have arts and crafts programs and many inmates have become proficient artists. Employees of San Quentin are allowed to buy inmate’s artwork. Each tier of cells has one pay phone. There is a visiting room, which is open four days a week. It is fairly pleasant with murals painted by a condemned man.

There are three death rows at San Quentin and one at the California Institute for Women. The most prized death row at San Quentin is called Old Death Row or North Seg (segregated). It is the original death row at San Quentin and is considered to be the most desirable. Only the best-behaved prisoners are housed there and the atmosphere is peaceful and safe. It houses 34 men on two tiers. Breakfast and dinner are hot meals and are brought to the cells in cardboard trays. After meals there is a cell search and after that prisoners are allowed out of their cells where they can interact with other prisoners until 2 P.M.

In the other two death rows prisoners are not allowed out of their cells except for exercise so they must make do most of the day in their nine by five-foot cells. In the worst of the rows, the most dangerous prisoners are held and life there can be risky.

At best, life on California’s death row is not pleasant.