l crimes” such as abortion and mercy killing. Last January, the Catholic bishops of Texas appealed to Gov. George Bush, asking him to follow in the footsteps of Gov. George Ryan (the governor of Illinois), and outlaw the death penalty. His replay to the bishops was, “These were people found guilty by a jury of their peers. These are people who have had full access to the court of law. There’s no doubt in my mind that each person who has been executed in my state was guilty of the crime committed” (Black 1). To the bishops’ dismay, Bush did not follow in Governor Ryan’s footsteps.It has been argued that, while on death row, the convicts are not treated fairly and humanely, therefore violating their constitutional rights. Death row inmates are kept physically separate from other inmates. They occupy cell blocks on one end of the prison, opposite the general prison population. In a sense, death row is actually a prison within a prison. Security here is maximized. Guards follow strict and detailed procedures when transporting death-row inmates. Condemned prisoners who leave the death-row wing are to be escorted by two prison officers. As they move through the prison, they must wait to clear many locked gates along the way. They most often alert the officers with the phrase, “Dead man coming through!”. However, a consent decree signed in conjunction with Ruiz vs. Estelle, one of the most comprehensive prisoners’ rights cases, changed the conditions on death row for some inmates. In this decree, prison officials agree to classify death row prisoners as “death row work capable” or “death row segregation”, as it said in the 1985 “Death Row Activity Plan.” As a result of this, some death row prisoners have access outside their cell up to five times a week. Inmates considered threats to security are also allowed recreation, but only in “recreation cag...
