Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ("being on death row"), even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades.
Opponents of capital punishment claim that a prisoner's isolation and uncertainty over their fate constitute a form of psychological abuse and that especially long-time death row inmates are prone to develop a mental disorder, if they do not already have such a condition. This is referred to as the death row phenomenon. Estimates reveal that five to ten percent of all inmates on death row have a mental health condition. Some inmates may attempt suicide. There have been some calls for a ban on the imposition of the death penalty for inmates with mental illness and also case law such as Atkins v. Virginia to further this. Executions still take place for those with clear intellectual disabilities due to poor legal representation and high standards of proof.
Etymology In 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although he missed Roosevelt, he fatally shot Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Zangara was subsequently convicted of Cermak's murder and sentenced to death. At the time, Florida law prohibited housing a condemned inmate in the same cell as another prisoner awaiting execution. As a result, such inmates were required to be held in a separate holding area. At Raiford Prison, where Zangara was incarcerated, one inmate was already occupying the designated "death cell." To accommodate Zangara, the facility expanded the waiting area to include a row of adjacent cells, thus creating what became known as "Death Row."
United States
In the United States, prisoners may wait many years before execution can be carried out due to the complex and time-consuming appeals procedures mandated in the jurisdiction. The time between sentencing and execution increased relatively steadily between 1977 and 2010, including a 21% jump between 1989 and 1990 and a similar jump between 2008 and 2009. In 2010, a death row inmate waited an average of 178 months (14 years and 10 months) between sentencing and execution. Nearly a quarter of inmates on death row in the U.S. die of natural causes while awaiting execution.
There were 2,721 people on death row in the United States on October 1, 2018. As of 2024, 2,183 people are on death row in the United States. Since 1977, the states of Texas (464), Virginia (108) and Oklahoma (94) have executed the most death row inmates. , California (683), Florida (390), Texas (330) and Pennsylvania (218) housed more than half of all inmates pending on death row. Gary Alvord arrived on Florida's death row in 1974 and died 39 years later on May 19, 2013, from a brain tumor, having spent more time on death row than any American. Brandon Astor Jones spent 36 years on death row (with a brief period in the general prison population during his re-sentencing trial) before being executed for felony murder by the state of Georgia in 2016, at the age of 72. The oldest prisoner on death row in the United States was Leroy Nash, age 94, in Arizona. He died of natural causes on February 12, 2010.
Death row locations
FederalMen's death rowWomen's death rowCivilianMajority: United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana ADX Florence, Fremont County, Colorado (Timothy McVeigh, Joseph Edward Duncan, Kaboni Savage, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev)
MCFP Springfield, Missouri"Special Confinement Unit Opens at USP Terre Haute ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. July 13, 1999. Retrieved on October 3, 2010. (Marvin Charles Gabrion)Federal Medical Center, Carswell, Fort Worth, TexasMarshall, John. "Lisa Montgomery gets death penalty for killing pregnant woman ." Associated Press at the Southeast Missourian. Friday April 4, 2008. Retrieved on October 3, 2010. "Department of Justice spokesman Don Ledford said Montgomery will likely be sent to the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, a women's correctional facility that has medical services for inmates.""Lisa M Montgomery ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on October 3, 2010."Angela Johnson ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on October 14, 2010.Military United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar, San Diego, California
StateMen's death rowWomen's death rowAlabamaHolman Correctional Facility, Atmore"Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003." (Archive) Alabama Department of Corrections. 33/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "which also included a cellblock for 20 death row inmates." and William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, Jefferson County"Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003." (Archive) Alabama Department of Corrections. 21/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "Donaldson has a death row unit with a capacity of 24 inmates."Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, Wetumpka"Annual Report Fiscal Year 2003." (Archive) Alabama Department of Corrections. 45/84. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "Tutwiler also has a death row,"ArizonaArizona State Prison Complex – Tucson (Rincon Unit), TucsonArizona State Prison Complex – Eyman, FlorenceArizona State Prison Complex – Perryville (Lumley Unit), GoodyearArkansasVarner Unit, Lincoln County"State Capitol Week in Review." State of Arkansas. June 13, 2008. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "Executions are carried out in the Cummins Unit, which is adjacent to Varner."McPherson Unit, NewportHaddigan, Michael. "They Kill Women, Don't They?" Arkansas Times. April 9, 1999. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.CaliforniaSan Quentin State Prison, Marin County"History of Capital Punishment in California ." California Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. "All male prisoners on condemned status are housed at a maximum-security custody level in three units at San Quentin State Prison. Females are housed in a maximum-security unit at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla." (formerly), now housed in general population at institutions throughout the stateCentral California Women's Facility, Chowchilla, now housed in general populationFloridaUnion Correctional Institution, Union County and Florida State Prison, Bradford County"Death Row." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 30, 2020.Lowell Correctional Institution Annex, Marion CountyGeorgiaGeorgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, Butts County"Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison ." Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on July 18, 2010.Arrendale State Prison, Habersham County"Inmates Under Death Sentence January 1, 2012 Changes to UDS Population During 2011." (Archive) Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.IdahoIdaho Maximum Security Institution, Ada CountyPocatello Women's Correctional Center, PocatelloIndianaIndiana State Prison, Michigan CityIndiana Women's Prison, IndianapolisKansasEl Dorado Correctional Facility, El DoradoTopeka Correctional Facility, TopekaKentuckyKentucky State Penitentiary, EddyvilleBarrouquere, Brett. "Inmate challenges sedatives used in lethal injections Wilson also claims state doesn't provide enough information to inmates." The Harlan Daily Enterprise. November 24, 2007. Retrieved on September 8, 2010.Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women, Shelby County"Kentucky State Penitentiary Prepares For 165th Execution." WLKY. Retrieved on September 8, 2010.LouisianaLouisiana State Penitentiary, West Feliciana Parish"Life After Death Row." CBS News. April 25, 2010. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. "Rideau was sent to Louisiana's Angola Prison, where he spent a decade waiting to be executed."Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, St. Gabriel"Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women ." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.MississippiMississippi State Penitentiary, Sunflower County"Division of Institutions State Prisons ." Mississippi Department of Corrections. April 21, 2010. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, Rankin CountyMissouriPotosi Correctional Center, Washington CountyLombardi, George, Richard D. Sluder, and Donald Wallace. "The Management of Death-Sentenced Inmates: Issues, Realities, and Innovative Strategies ." Missouri Department of Corrections. 8-9. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, VandaliaMontanaMontana State Prison, Powell CountyMontana Women's Prison, BillingsNebraskaTecumseh State Correctional Institution, Johnson CountyNebraska Correctional Center for Women, York CountyNevadaHigh Desert State Prison, Clark County"Organization ." Nevada Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 5, 2010.Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center, North Las Vegas" ." Associated Press at North County Times. January 31, 2005. Retrieved on September 5, 2010.New HampshireNew Hampshire State Prison for Men, ConcordNew Hampshire State Prison for Women, ConcordNew MexicoPenitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe CountyNorthwest New Mexico Correctional Facility, GrantsNorth CarolinaCentral Prison, Raleigh"Death Row and Death Watch ." North Carolina Department of Correction. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, RaleighOhioRoss Correctional Institution, Ross County; Ohio State Penitentiary, Youngstown;"CCI death row receives final inmates ." Chillicothe Gazette. Retrieved on February 2, 2012. and Franklin Medical Center, ColumbusOhio Reformatory for Women, MarysvilleOklahomaOklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlesterMabel Bassett Correctional Center, McLoudOregonOregon State Penitentiary, Salem"Capital Punishment in Oregon ." Oregon Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 28, 2012.Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, WilsonvillePennsylvaniaSCI-Somerset, Somerset Townshipand SCI-Phoenix, Skippack Township"Death Penalty FAQ." Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. 2 (2/4). Retrieved on July 26, 2010.SCI-Muncy, Clinton TownshipSouth CarolinaBroad River Correctional Institution, Columbia"Death Row/Capital Punishment ." South Carolina Department of Corrections. Retrieved on July 8, 2018.Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, Columbia"Graham (Camille Griffin) Correctional Institution ." South Carolina Department of Corrections. Retrieved on August 17, 2010. "The institution also functions as a major special management unit with the ability to house female death row inmates and county safekeepers."South DakotaSouth Dakota State Penitentiary, Sioux FallsSouth Dakota Women's Prison, PierreTennesseeRiverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville"Death Row Facts." Tennessee Department of Correction. Retrieved on December 26, 2025.Tennessee Prison for Women, NashvilleTexasPolunsky Unit, West Livingston and Wayne Scott Unit (formerly Jester IV Unit), Fort Bend County"West Livingston CDP, Texas ." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 9, 2010."Death Row Facts ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.Patrick O'Daniel Unit (formerly Mountain View Unit), GatesvilleUtahUtah State Correctional Facility, Salt Lake CityCentral Utah Correctional Facility, GunnisonWyomingWyoming State Penitentiary, RawlinsWyoming Women's Center, Lusk
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Criticism of death row