Don't Give Me Life
E-Mail  by Richard Rossi  Résumé & Address

    Since I am a death row prisoner, it may seem odd to hear me say 'Don't Give Me Life'. That is, life without the possibility of parole (L.W.O.P.) I know there may be some on the row who would disagree with me, as well as some in the abolitionist movement. However, please hear me out.
    There are few amongst us who would disagree with the premise that the death penalty is wrong. The death penalty does not make allowances for changed behavior or rehabilitation. It goes without saying that in society's viewpoint, the purpose of incarceration has shifted from rehabilitation to pure punishment and revenge, regardless of the actual sentence. Control units are quickly replacing conventional prison construction and creating lockdown environments that simulate hellish conditions and remove all privileges. Incapacitation has become the strategy of modern penology. This policy simply states that there is nothing to be salvaged in the individual, and therefore prisoners are just locked in their cells for 23 hours a day, denied almost every form of humanity.
    Previously, the alternative to the death penalty had been life in prison without parole for 25 years. Although a quarter of a century in prison is a long time, it still allows for hope. Hope allows for change and reduces the idleness, abuse, neglect and attitudes of revenge. Where there is hope, there is life.
    Those who have not been in prison do not often think of growing old behind bars. However, the fastest growing segment of the prison population is the elderly. This has come about by reason of sentencing strategies such as Truth In Sentencing laws that eliminate parole and require that 85% of a sentence has to be served. In exchange for states following such policies, the government gives millions of dollars to these states to facilitate the building of new prisons - including control units. Also mandatory sentencing for numerous crimes does not allow judges discretion insofar as sentencing is concerned. This has created an increasingly large pool of elderly prisoners, and with medical treatment within prisons being minimal at best, the prospect of detecting serious problems. before they become malignant or terminal is very poor. I have personally witnessed six men die slow and painful deaths in prison due mainly to late diagnosis or non-diagnosis by unskilled staff. Very few, if any painkillers are given in prison for fear of abuse. Health care providers, usually adult nurse practitioners, fall well short of the standard of ability and skill found in a regular doctor. Couple this with the severe shortage of funds resulting from stretching the budget to cover the requirements of a growing population of older prisoners, and inevitably the rate of detection and treatment of diseases has suffered. Growing old in prison, and especially dying in pain, is a more cruel fate than a quick execution. It is the alternative death penalty.
    I hope that my words are shedding some light on the current situation. A combination of longer sentences, prison policies of incapacitation, punishment and revenge and lack of adequate medical services all add up to a life of misery. Add to that the total loss of hope that accompanies a sentence of Life Without Parole and you have a person who has nothing to look forward to or live for. I know of no one who desires to die old, lonely and sickly in prison. However, this is an alarming new trend. There are more than 3500 people on death row, but there are more than 20000 people who are serving L.W.O.P. - a death sentence harder and more cruel than the finality of an execution in my opinion. When society locks the door and throws away the key it signifies a belief that there is little or no value in a human life. If we are a Christian society as we like to think we are, what has happened to the belief that there is God in every person, that good can be found in everyone, that each individual is a person of worth and value deserving of being treated with respect and humanity regardless of the severity of crimes committed, or behavior towards others? The true mark of a society is how it treats the incarcerated and the less fortunate. Is it not a bigger crime to give up on humanity and just write us prisoners off?
    Those abolitionists who see L.W.O.P. as an acceptable alternative to execution do not realizes that in essence they are supporting a penalty that is more cruel and harder on the individual than is outright execution. Don't be deceived into wasting your valuable time, efforts and resources by validating a punishment that is worse than death, that prolongs the suffering for the rest of a prisoner's existence. A world in which there is no hope. Keep focused on the eradication of capital punishment, but don't allow society to "clean it up" by giving more L.W.O.P. sentences as an alternative.
    So, I repeat, 'Don't Give Me Life' without hope, for we all have humanity and dignity and should not be discarded as if we were human waste.

Reader Comment June 8th, 2000:

Dear Editors, 

    I have read with great interest the letters written by Habe Lawson and Richard Rossi concerning the issue of  LWOP.
    I live in the state of Michigan where we have LWOP for first degree murder convictions.  In my own town I have seen men as young as 18 years old receiving this sentence.  They will never again have the taste of freedom for as long as they live.  They chose this path.  They chose to take the life of another human being.
This is why I believe that LWOP is a fair sentence:  These young men imposed the DEATH SENTENCE on their victims.  In one case the victims were two young people working in a video store.  They were made to get on their knees and they were executed by being shot in the back of the head.  They committed no crime.  They didn't have their day in court. They were doing their jobs...for minimum wage...one was saving for college and the other was saving for a trip.  The two criminals appointed themselves executioners and cold bloodedly killed two innocent people.  I think LWOP more than fair.  Their two victims were robbed of their lives, the shooters should suffer the same fate.
    When you make the choice to rob another human being of life, it's only just that you lose your own...one way or another.

Linda Redding, MI

Richard Rossi's Answer:

Linda Redding:

    I am writing in response to your comment about L.W.O.P.. You believe that when someone kills another as in the example you stated, they should have their lives taken away permanently. LWOP is in my opinion worse than the death penalty. You sentence someone to death by years, years without meaning and hope. I do not believe you know how cruel this really is. All murder is wring. Some murders are simply unforgivable. These are the mass murderers and the serial killers and the child molesting murders. How do we say that one is worst than the other? The horrible ones just jump out at you and there is no doubt. To condemn and judge all murderers as the same is not right. Every human being has the ability to recognize his/her mistakes and change. Long years in prison can and does rehabilitate a person. I agree that not everyone can change and not all want to change.
    LWOP predetermines that a person is worthless and will never amount to anything again. This is not natural. Human beings have the ability to overcome their mistakes. A society without forgiveness and compassion condemns itself as severely as those they sentence to LWOP, to a life of hopelessness. No one can argue that there are individuals in society who forfeit their right to freedom by committing the worst of the worst crimes. We know these crimes when we see them as well as the unrepentant perpetrators. No one wants to see the Charlie Mansons' of this world set free. He will never be released although lie has served more than the 25 years to life he was sentenced to. The system works, the parole boards can see where real change has occurred. When you do not allow the possibility of review after 25, 30 or 40 years, you are just closing your eyes to reality.
    Everyone bias the ability to change and be rehabilitated over the many years. Not all will accept the opportunity and accept responsibility for what they have done, but there are those that can and do. LWOP is an unforgiving sentence. LWOP can be tempered with some humanity by allowing the possibility of parole at some distant and fixed period of time. Not to be able to recognize a person who is remorseful and can overcome his/her worse mistake condemns society as much as it does the criminal. It is a very cold and unforgiving society that can not temper it's justice with humanity and compassion. We are all judged by our ability to forgive and be forgiven. Without which we as a society are just as doomed as those we judge.

Richard Rossi

Another Reader's Reaction:

Hello, My name is Dave. I spent a few years working as a prison guard in a maximum security, in California. There were some prisoners I got along with and others I did not care for at all. I always made a point of treating them all fairly. I would read their files and learn about their crimes. I know they all deserved the sentence they received. I found that almost all prisoners had one think in common. They would forgive themselves for the crime they committed very quickly. Then they would expect the law abiding citizens to also forgive them. I am writing in response to the Richard Rossi article. They also have the nerve to judge all who disagree with them as some how evil. A murderer judging me!!?? Thank you for listening. 

Dave

Back