NEW RESOURCES: Interactive Display Illustrates Conditions on Death Row

A joint research project begun by two Texas uni­ver­si­ties illus­trates the con­fine­ment con­di­tions of death-row pris­on­ers, includ­ing areas such as vis­i­ta­tion, health care, attor­ney vis­its, recre­ation, food, and oppor­tu­ni­ties for work. The Capital Punishment & Social Rights Research Initiative has cre­at­ed an ini­tial info­graph­ic describ­ing the con­di­tions in Texas. 

The project includes qual­i­ta­tive research on death row con­di­tions, as well as first­hand accounts from pris­on­ers. Anthony Medina, a Texas pris­on­er who has been on death row since 1996, is quot­ed: ​“We now spend almost 24 hours a day 7 days a week in our cells where there is absolute­ly noth­ing to do. Our art pro­gram, group recre­ation, abil­i­ty to watch TV and work-pro­gram were all stripped away from us in 2000.”

The researchers – Dr. Barbara Laubenthal of the University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Rick Halperin of Southern Methodist University – expect to cre­ate addi­tion­al graph­ics cov­er­ing the con­di­tions in oth­er death penalty states.