Death House Desiderata: A Hunger for Justice, Unsated

Robert Johnson, Alexa Marie Kelly, Sarah Bousquet, Susan Nagelson and Carla Mavaddat
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Robert Johnson: Department of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Alexa Marie Kelly: Department of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Sarah Bousquet: Department of Justice, Law and Criminology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Susan Nagelson: New England College, 98 Bridge St, Henniker, NH 03242, USA
Carla Mavaddat: McGill University, 845 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada

Laws, 2014, vol. 3, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: The death penalty lives on in America, with some 1350 prisoners put to death since 1976, when the modern American death penalty was reborn. Most prisoners get a last meal of their choice, though that choice is constrained by cost and, often, the stock in the prison kitchen. Last meals can be thought of as brief moments of autonomy in a relentlessly dehumanizing execution process. They also entail a distinctive cruelty. At their lowest point, prisoners seek comfort food but are never comforted. This meal is no entre to a relationship, but instead a recipe for abandonment. Dignity is nowhere to be found on the death house menu. Yet hope lingers, even here; human beings, it seems, cannot live or die without hope. Justice, the most profound human hunger, goes unsated by design.

Keywords: last meals; death house; executions; photography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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