With a num­ber of exe­cu­tions of inmates who have waived their appeals approach­ing in the U.S., Amnesty International has released a new report, ​“Prisoner-assist­ed homi­cide – more ​‘vol­un­teer’ exe­cu­tions loom.” The report address­es the fact that about 12% of exe­cu­tions in the U.S. since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed have been of inmates who gave up appeals that would have extend­ed their time on death row. The report looks at some of the pos­si­ble rea­sons for the large num­ber of vol­un­teers includ­ing men­tal ill­ness and the con­di­tions on death row. The report exam­ines the cas­es of some of the vol­un­teers who have been exe­cut­ed, and pro­vides sta­tis­tics on the num­ber of vol­un­teers in each state. Executions of vol­un­teers are approach­ing in Arizona, Ohio, South Dakota, and pos­si­bly Tennessee.
(Read Amnesty’s Report on Volunteers, post­ed May 17, 2007). See Mental Illness and Time on Death Row.

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