Title: Death row phenomenon - Wikipedia
Headings: Death row phenomenon
Death row phenomenon
Contents
Phenomenon
Legal ramifications
See also
References
External links

Content: Since the re-institution of the death penalty in 1976 to January 1, 2017, 145 prisoners have waived their appeals and asked that the execution be carried out. In the post- Furman era, four states (Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) have executed only volunteers. The theory of the death row phenomenon may be traced to 1989, when the European Court of Human Rights agreed that poor conditions on death row in Virginia should mean that a fugitive should not be extradited to the US unless the US agreed it would not execute the fugitive should he or she be convicted. Additionally, the number of years that the fugitive would be on death row was considered problematic. The case is known as Soering v. United Kingdom. Earlier, however, in 1950, a justice of the United States Supreme Court, in Solesbee v. Balkcom, remarked that the onset of insanity while awaiting execution of a death sentence is not a rare phenomenon. Often, the death row phenomenon, being a result of a prolonged stay on death row, is an unintentional result of the long procedures used in the attempt to ensure the death penalty is applied only to the guilty. Legal ramifications
As of 2013
[update]
, arguments about the death row phenomenon have never been successful in avoiding the death penalty for any person in the United States, but the Supreme Court has been aware of the theory and has mentioned it in its decisions. When serial killer Michael Bruce Ross agreed to be executed in 2005, his decision sparked controversy over whether he could legally agree to such a thing, as the death row phenomenon might have contributed to his decision. In Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada cited the death row phenomenon, along with a few other concerns about execution, to declare the risk of a prisoner being executed after he or she is extradited to another country to be a breach of fundamental justice, a legal right under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution of Canada.