Study: Texas’ ​‘Harsh and Inhumane’ Death-Row Conditions Amount to ​‘Torture’

The con­di­tions in which pris­on­ers on Texas’ death row are con­fined are ​“harsh and inhu­mane,” vio­late inter­na­tion­al human rights norms, and amount to ​“a severe and relent­less act of tor­ture,” accord­ing to a new study by the University of Texas School of Law Human Rights Clinic. 

The study, ​“Designed to Break You,” col­lect­ed accounts from for­mer death-row pris­on­ers who had been exon­er­at­ed or who had received less­er sen­tences after their death sen­tences had been over­turned. Their sto­ries revealed numer­ous prob­lems with death-row con­di­tions, includ­ing, ​“manda­to­ry soli­tary con­fine­ment, a total ban on con­tact vis­its with both attor­neys and friends and fam­i­ly, sub­stan­dard phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal health care, and a lack of access to suf­fi­cient religious services.” 

Every pris­on­er on death row spends about 23 hours a day in an 8‑by-12 foot cell for the dura­tion of their time on death row. ​“This pro­longed soli­tary con­fine­ment has over­whelm­ing­ly neg­a­tive effects on inmates’ men­tal health,” the study reports, ​“exac­er­bat­ing exist­ing men­tal health con­di­tions and caus­ing many pris­on­ers to devel­op men­tal ill­ness for the first time.” 

Ariel Dulitzky, direc­tor of the Human Rights Clinic, said, ​“Any per­son who is kept in soli­tary con­fine­ment for more than 15 days starts to suf­fer men­tal and psy­cho­log­i­cal effects that can­not be reversed, and that fits the def­i­n­i­tion of torture.” 

The report con­cludes that Texas death-row ​“con­di­tions fall woe­ful­ly behind inter­na­tion­al stan­dards for con­fine­ment” and offers 13 rec­om­men­da­tions to bring con­di­tions in line with inter­na­tion­al norms. The rec­om­men­da­tions include using soli­tary con­fine­ment only as a puni­tive mea­sure of last resort and ban­ning it alto­geth­er for pris­on­ers with men­tal ill­ness or intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty. The report also rec­om­mends that death-row pris­on­ers be per­mit­ted con­tact vis­its with their lawyers, fam­i­ly, and friends and that they ​“have access to nat­ur­al light, fresh air and outdoor activities.”