Keywords

capital punishment, delay, death row

Abstract

This thesis attempts to identify and explain what influences the length of time an inmate spends on Florida's death row. A systematic random sample of 33 Florida death row inmates was drawn from the Florida Department of Corrections death row roster and the Florida Commission on Capital Cases inmate roster. Documented for each death row inmate was how long he spent on Florida's death row navigating the various stages and steps in Florida's post-conviction capital punishment process. The data show that petitions to the state trial courts and appeals to the Florida Supreme Court take the longest time in Florida's post-conviction capital punishment process. It also shows a considerable amount of "dead time," which refers to any additional time that an inmate spends on death row with no legal actions pending. A theory of "benign neglect" is proposed as the most likely explanation for the excessive delays.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2008

Advisor

Bohm, Robert

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Health and Public Affairs

Department

Criminal Justice and Legal Studies

Degree Program

Criminal Justice

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002328

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002328

Language

English

Release Date

September 2008

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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