Hope and Hopelessness

Word spreads from cell to cell..."someone innocent has been freed from death row ! "…..in conversations to loved ones at home…. word is carried from phone to phone. .. perhaps for them it one day shall be the same. . . instilling hope inside those who remain….

Word spreads from cell to cell. . . "an execution is scheduled.. .does an anyone know who?" ….in conversations to loved ones at home….. word is carried from phone to phone. .. perhaps for them it shall one day be the same... instilling hopelessness inside those who remain...

Few death row prisoners and their loved ones speak openly about their emotions, feelings and thoughts when it comes to how an execution affects them. There are many psychological effects that plague death row prisoners and their families when an execution occurs. Hopelessness is one I wish to focus on.

We have all heard the adage "where there's life there's hope. " From the cradle to one step shy of the grave, I guess there is truth in that statement. Without a glimmer of some kind of hope the human spirit and will to live perishes.

While I do not speak for all death row prisoners, nor loved ones. I speak from years of experience with hope and hopelessness.

Whenever any person is confronted with the death of someone known to them , be it the result of accident, natural causes, etc, ... they generally ponder their own mortality. When death row prisoners and their loved ones are confronted with the execution of someone known to them, it is natural for them to ponder issues of hope and hopelessness.

The psychological effects of an execution cause a death row prisoner to question his own sense of hope. Having been witness to a prisoner who has been has an execution date and his interaction with his loved ones, seeing how those loved ones had to suffer the execution; saying goodbyes; its natural for the prisoner to ponder his own worth. Is he actually worth the pain and suffering his loved ones could possibly endure if his time comes.. .if hope turns to hopelessness...

While society may not care and it is safe to say "does not care", about how an execution affects a death row prisoner, society should take a hard look at how it affects loved ones and family members of death row prisoners.

Family members and loved ones of death row prisoners have committed no crime against society, yet they are being treated cruelly and inhumanely due to the fact that they are related to a death row prisoner.

Many argue that the execution of a death row prisoner is cruel and inhumane. They argue that the method of execution is cruel and inhumane punishment, yet one aspect that society does not recognize is the wanton infliction of pain the death penalty puts on family and loved ones of the condemned.

Each of us have suffered the death of someone known to us in our lives. It did not matter if that person was a good person or the black sheep of the family. That death cause grief and pain. Consider for one moment that your brother, sister, uncle, was going to be murdered. You know the date, the place and time, and you are powerless to prevent it, the most you can do is to go sit with the person until their final hour comes, until they are led away to be murdered.

Imagine how that would rip you to pieces. Imagine having to tell that person goodbye.

Imagine how hopeless and helpless you would feel in knowing that no matter how hard you begged for to their life to be spared they would still be murdered !!!!

This is the lot of loved ones and family members of death row prisoners.

This is execution........... murder by the state….. !!!

Timothy C. Davis
Z-399, 3-D-2
Holman 3700,
Amore, AL 36503

Written May 2003