Execution of ​“Volunteers” Raises Questions About the Purpose of Death Penalty

South Dakota has sched­uled the exe­cu­tion of Elijah Page for August 28. If this exe­cu­tion goes for­ward, it will mark the fifth inmate in the past six weeks who waived his appeals and was then exe­cut­ed. This will also be the first exe­cu­tion in South Dakota in 59 years. About 12% of those who have been exe­cut­ed since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976 have vol­un­tar­i­ly waived appeals that would like­ly have delayed their exe­cu­tion.

Such exe­cu­tions raise ques­tions about the stat­ed pur­pos­es of the death penal­ty: deter­rence and ret­ri­bu­tion. For many of these inmates, the prospect of remain­ing in prison for life is worse than the death penal­ty. The choice to for­go appeals may be relat­ed to the lengthy time on death row or to men­tal ill­ness. (See DPIC’s Execution Database (allow­ing a search for those who waived appeals; see also Angus Leader (S.D.), August 14, 2006).