Entries tagged with “Frank Thompson”
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Feb 21, 2023
NEW PODCAST: Former Prison Superintendent Frank Thompson on How Executions Affect Corrections Officers
In the February 2023 edition of Discussions with DPIC, former Oregon Superintendent of Prisons Frank Thompson speaks with DPIC Managing Director Anne Holsinger about how his experiences as a corrections officer — as well as being a murder victim’s family member — have affected his views on capital punishment. Thompson oversaw the only two executions performed in Oregon in the past 50 years and was responsible for developing the execution protocol. He said the process of performing…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Nov 22, 2022
NPR Investigation: The Death Penalty’s Second Casualty — the Execution Staff
Corrections personnel who participate in executing prisoners experience emotional trauma so profound that it changes their views about capital punishment, a National Public Radio (NPR) investigation has…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Mar 31, 2017
Corrections Officials Warn Arkansas Leaders About Psychological Trauma From Unprecedented Execution Schedule
As Arkansas moves toward attempting to conduct an unprecedented eight executions in eleven days, former corrections officials from across the country are warning Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson of the psychological toll the compressed execution schedule could take on prison…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Sep 21, 2016
Former Oregon Prison Superintendent: “Capital Punishment is a Failed Policy”
Semon Frank Thompson (pictured), a former superintendent at the Oregon State Penitentiary, oversaw both of the executions carried out under Oregon’s death penalty statute. He now believes that “capital punishment is a failed…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,New Voices
,Apr 24, 2015
NEW VOICES: Effects of the Death Penalty on Those Who Carry It Out
Four retired death-row prison officials — two wardens, a chaplain, and an execution supervisor — recently described the effect that carrying out executions has had on…
Policy Issues
Deterrence
,New Voices
,Apr 02, 2015
NEW VOICES: Warden Says Death Penalty Imposes “Immeasurable Burden” on Correctional Officers
Former prison warden, Frank Thompson, has urged repeal of Delaware’s death penalty. In an op-ed for The News Journal of Delaware, the former warden, who has personally overseen two executions, describes “the immeasurable burden that th[e execution] process places on correctional officers” and the trauma experienced by correctional officers who must carry out executions. Thompson says, “Many of us who have taken part in this process live with nightmares,…