Letters to Hell: Correspondence with death row inmates
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Author | Kathleen Knoll‐Frey,Richard D. Clark,Amy Kato |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12475 |
Received: 8 June 2021 Accepted: 22 October 2021
DOI: 10.1111/ho jo.12475
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Letters to Hell: Correspondence with death row
inmates
Kathleen Knoll-Frey1Richard D. Clark2Amy Kato3
1Assistant Professor, Department of
Sociology and Criminology, John Carroll
University, University Heights, OH, USA
2Professor, Department of Sociology and
Criminology, John Carroll University,
University Heights, OH, USA
3Law student, University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Correspondence
Kathleen Knoll-Frey,Department of
Sociology and Criminology, JohnCarroll
University, University Heights, OH, USA.
Email: kfrey@jcu.edu
Abstract
Death row inmates are sentenced to long periods of iso-
lation before their execution. These individuals, how-
ever, often acquire pen pals who write on a regular
basis. Anecdotal writings on correspondence with death
row inmates have been studied, though usually focus-
ing only on a set of letters between pen pals. This project
uses a mixed-methods approach to examine individuals
who corresponded with death row inmates. A qualita-
tive analysis explores multiple facets of why a person
chose to write to a death row inmate and the effects of
this letter writing. A quantitative analysis of the data
explores which aspects of letter writing aremore likely to
result in the correspondent engaging in activities relat-
ing to the death penalty. Results from the study reveal
that letter writing has positive effects on the letter writ-
ers. Letter writing may pose a way to humanise death
row inmates and encourage advocacy work towards the
death penalty.
KEYWORDS
death row inmates, impacts of writing, pen pals
1 INTRODUCTION
Death row inmates form a particularly unique group of incarcerated individuals who perhaps face
the harshest stigma. These individuals are often believed by the general public to be the ‘worst of
© 2022 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
310 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hojo HowardJ. Crim. Justice. 2022;61:310–328.
THE HOWARDJOURNAL OF CRIME AND JUSTICE 311
the worst’ and people who deserve their ultimate sentence. However,public opinion on the death
penalty is shifting away from favouring the death penalty, especially as states continue to abolish
the death penalty. In 2021, Virginia, one of the major death penalty states, abolished the death
penalty furthering the push to end the use of this punishment in the United States. However,
many states continue to use the death penalty today. As long as people continue to believe that
death row inmates are abhorrent individuals, they will likely continue to support the inhumane
practice.
What is unknown to the majority of Americans, is that the death penalty is not reserved solely
for the worst offenders. Evidence is clear that the death penalty is arbitrarily applied and often
is based on factors like race, gender,socio- economic status, victim characteristicsand geography,
while less likely applied to those who commit the most heinous of murders. Research has shown
that Black individuals are more likely to receive the death penalty, especially when the victim is
white (Girgenti, 2015; Paternoster & Brame, 2008). Those in poverty have also been shown to be
at a greater risk of receiving the death penalty, likelydue to the inability to hire effective counsel
(Bright, 1994, 2002; Johnson & Johnson, 2001). The death penalty is also geographically based;
those in certain counties and jurisdictions are more likely to get the death penalty. For example,
before Maryland abolished the death penalty,it was found that the majority of death penalty cases
were in Baltimore County, with the majority being applied in the city of Baltimore with a high
minority population (Paternoster et al., 2004). Ultimately, those who receive the death penalty
are not necessarily those who commit the worst murders, but rather those who are of a particular
background or from a particular area. Those who favour the death penalty would likely benefit
from having a greater understanding of the individuals on death row and their personal stories
and backgrounds. Many of those on death row are victims of circumstance and are demonised
without any understanding of their lives and crimes.
One way for the general public to get to understand the person behind the title ‘death row
inmate’ is to correspond with someone on death row. Death row inmates often correspond with
individuals outside of the prison either through personal connections or programmes that link
people to death row inmates. In some instances, a victim’sfamily members will contact the person
who murdered their family member. The latter group of individuals intentionallyseek to engage
with death row inmates, despite the pain that the inmate has caused their family. For example, a
woman connected with a death row inmate who had raped and murdered her 90-year-old aunt.
While the purpose of the letter was to let the man know that she forgave him, it resulted in a
long-term correspondence between them. It is expected that those who write letters to death row
inmates will have differing reasons. If those reasons could be understood, it is possible that pro-
grammes to encourage individuals to seek out correspondence with death row inmates could be
implemented more regularly.
The current study seeks to understand why people engage in letter writing with death row
inmates and what they gain from these experiences. If these pen pal writing experiences have a
positive effect on the person writing to a death row inmate, perhaps others, too, would benefit
from these experiences. It is even possible that those who write to death row inmates would be
more willing to engage in abolitionist efforts to minimise the death penalty after understanding
more about death row inmates.
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