ABSTRACT
Carried out to its intended conclusion, the capital-punishment process culminates in the execution of offenders who have been duly convicted of aggravated murder, have been sentenced to death, and have exhausted their appeals. In the interval between sentence and execution, condemned prisoners will face confinement under conditions of heightened security. They typically spend more than a decade of incarceration on death row, with an execution date looming progressively nearer. The mental health of some of the condemned, which may already have been compromised well in advance of their confinement, deteriorates to the point that they may not understand why they have been incarcerated and what fate awaits them. Shortly before their scheduled execution, most offenders under sentence of death will ask the governor or another authority within the executive branch of government to spare them from execution by granting clemency. Those securing no relief will die pursuant to the court-ordered judgment in their case.
