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 The
Seven Year Itch
First Published: Nov 2004
Last Update:
Nov 2004
Author: Richard Rossi
Most likely you have heard the expression "The Seven Year Itch."
Traditionally, this expression referred to a certain strong itch to stray from
a monotonous marriage or relationship. One or both of the partners who were
compelled to be together had thoughts of "greener pastures."
It occurs to me that this is an apropos way to describe the situation we here
on death row in Arizona feel at this point in time. In September 1997, our
death row population was abruptly and rudely uprooted from our home at Cell
Block 6 and hustled over to the state's most secure control unit prison called
Special Management Unit 2. A deadly shooting incident outside on the death row
forced labor chain gang precipitated this move. A prisoner was killed as well
as his civilian wife who was shot to death by the prison guards as she stood
outside of the prison fence. Opinions differ as to whether it was an escape
attempt gone bad or a suicide pact. Either way, all
the rest of us were made to suffer for this event. We suffer to this day.
It is seven years now and many of us here have the itch. We crave change. Many
events over these seven years have only increased our suffering. Our behavior
had not merited this treatment. In the move over here we were pushed, tugged,
and physically shoved around like human sacks of potatoes.
We lost most of our personal property. More importantly, we lost the lifeblood
of any prisoner: the window in our cells. We are now in concrete boxes with no
sunlight at all and no view of the outside world. For any human being, such a
deprivation is horrendous.
All of our hobbycraft items and supplies were taken from us and these
privileges have never been restored. We can not engage in any artistic
endeavors as a pastime. If we are caught drawing, we get a disciplinary write-
up. In the boredom and loneliness of death row confinement, our minds
are encouraged to waste away. Allowing us to engage in a meaningful pastime
could be very useful and constructive. The administration knows this is the
value of hobbycraft, and their refusal to consider allowing these privileges
is a deliberate punishment.
For a time, we were allowed to come out of our cells, uncuffed, to clean the
pod we live in. This program was quickly shut down. We have never been allowed
out of our cells uncuffed again, and we have never been offered jobs to help
us pass the time. This is what prisoners refer to as "hard time." At Cell
Block 6 there were a number of jobs that allowed us to feel as if we were
contributing and being useful. Not this past seven years. Even our personal
shoes became a victim of this punishment cycle. One day the goon squad came to
our cells and did a massive search. Apparently, someone in this unit decided
he could not take the loneliness and desperation any
longer and hung himself by his shoe strings. All the goons came for were the
shoe strings, but what better way to take the shoes themselves. So they did.
Since 1998, we have only been issued cheap deck shoes that have no support at
all. These deck shoes cost the prison three dollars a pair and are made in
China, most likely by Chinese prisoners.
After a few years of inactivity, no exercise or exercise equipment, and no
jobs, the administration decided we needed an opportunity to stretch our legs.
The forced labor death row chain gang would be resurrected. The chain gang
provided us prisoners with shovels, rakes and hoes with which to redress
grievances that had been festering for years. When a prisoner would fight with
another prisoner, the officers were then free to engage in human target
practice. This was often the case. And if you were not hit by a load of
buckshot fired from the guards' shotguns, you could easily succumb to the
punishing 110° temperatures. The chain gang went on for quite some time. It
was finally ended when a severe budget shortage forced the cut back of the
police manpower used to administer the chain gang. Humanitarian considerations
did not figure into this decision. It was Cool Hand Luke revisited. Over these
seven years, numerous legal developments have taken
place as well. All to our detriment. The prison won a law suit that permitted
it to close the prison law libraries and thus close the door on many poor
persons trying to fight their conviction. A catastrophic event for us all.
Shortly after Timothy McVeigh bombed the Federal Building in
Oklahoma, the conservatives in Congress seized the opportunity to pass the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Finally, the liberal justices
would be limited as to the amount of relief they could grant in the federal
courts on habeus corpus and a time limit of one year for filing such a
petition. Additionally, over 60 crimes are now eligible for the federal death
penalty. This has caused much pain, suffering and death to us. Just recently,
the U.S. Supreme Court denied relief in the Summerlin case out of Arizona. If
we had won, about 100 prisoners would have been allowed a resentencing due to
the fact that they were improperly sentenced to death by a judge as opposed to
a jury. Although a forbidden practice under current law, since we came before,
we are denied the constitutional right extended to the so-called "current
cases." How do you deny a constitutional right to some and allow others to
benefit? It just doesn't square. Fairness of the law should extend to all.
All of the events I have mentioned and countless other ones should serve to
validate the premise of this article. In this seven year period of forced
bondage, I and many others have developed a strong case of The Seven Year
Itch. We need a change so badly we can taste it, but we are helpless in this
marriage of convenience that we call the death penalty. Scratch the itch as
hard as we like, we cannot change a thing. We are bound together until death
do us part.
About the Author:
© Richard Rossi
50337
P.O. Box 3400
Florence, AZ 85232
Death Row
http://ccadp.org/richardrossi.htm
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