IDST 112 Final Exam Spring 23

Commutations and pardons

Commutation- more specific form of clemency, the reduction in the severity of a sentence

taking someone with a death sentence and giving them life in prison or other lighter sentences

life without parole- dying in prison, removes 14 years from natural life

Best conditions to get a commutation:

white, rape is most fatal, being a woman helps

ex: Idad Ball Warren released didn’t get killed for murdering her husband bc she’s a woman

Gary Gilmore and Volunteerism

Gary Gilmore

sentenced to death for two murders in Utah (spree killer)

chooses the firing squad

fired his attorneys for appealing his convictions

refused to authorize any other attempts to save his life

Attorneys get him a pause and he sues and gets the stay terminated

His defense attorneys proved him to be mentally competent, Gilmore wanted to be deemed incompetent

Last dying speeches

* brings the person in process of execution
* tells people gathered to watch that they need to change their ways or end up like executed person
* puppet of the state
* vouches for legitimacy of the process

COMPLAINTS:

* victim’s family suffering unrelieved
* person gets sympathy depending on what they say
* praiseful coverage of the demeanor of the executed (died well)
* Black ppl speaking out about racial justice as they are about to die
* criminal becomes celebrity

Last meals

\-rituals allows us to draw the condemned person into the process

* if the executed person accepts their punishment, we take their word for it
* ex: Rickey Ray Rector: shot himself in the head, mentally disabled, different person than when he committed the crime, put pie under bed to save for later; didn’t understand he was being executed Last meal: steak fried chicken, pie, Kool Aid
* John Wayne Gacy: KFC

Ethnotheories of grief

local theories explaining reasons and meanings of grief

Rosaldo→ rage, born of grief, impels the taking of the head

ways of marking mourning

marking the person of mourning, setting the person apart of different from social whole

ex: wearing white at a Chinese funeral

symbolic and social functions of mourning rituals

withdrawing of close family members, quiet, contemplative behaviors

death wailing: grief expressed in open, unrestrained ways, cathartic, communally shared vs grieving in private

work to: first separate the bereaved from the loved one who has died, from the former identity of the bereaved in relation to the deceased and from the “normal” flow of life

reintegrate the bereaved person back into the community and into a new social identity

rites of passage (van Gennep)

rites of separation → rites of transition → rites of incorporation

analysis of Ilongot headhunting (Rosaldo)

Philipines

Personal circumstances: wife died: grief as rage

asserts the importance of perspective in knowledge production, blurs the personal and scholarly

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Rage ritual and group solidarity vs simple exchange, finding commonality in difference, his anger and Ilongot’s overlap rather than are separate

narratives of/about Rwanda (Prof. Sadruddin)

Rwanda suffers from a singular narrative of violence, reproducing stereotypes

A new beginning of life for people who were adults during the genocide, life hasn’t afforded them a stable life

Orphan headed families, widow headed families, skip generation

death talk as a form of local therapy, gifting words to the next generation to prepare the young to not be scared of death

death transcends the individual, it’s a collective process

demedicalized approach to life and death

death preparations and “ordinary death” in contemporary Rwanda

“Death talk”

Death preparations are revelatory

meant to take the sting out of death

importance of “saying goodbye” Chen study

saying goodbye virtually was associated with higher levels of psychological distress among those who were unable to say goodbye

those who physically attended an in person funeral reported lowest levels of psychological distress

2014-2016 ebola outbreak:

impact on funeral practices

role of anthropologists

caregivers high risk for transmission; risk highest with late-stage bodily fluids and immediately after death

mandatory cremation and safe burials

Anthropologists:

* researched sociocultural factors that enable the spread of disease
* served as expert advisors to national response coordinators and global actors like WHO
* spoke up against overuse of cultural factors as general explanation for the spread of epidemics (not everything is exotic)

“Buddy watch” in US military

What is it? What are its objectives?

Actual results in practice?

buddy watch is used to return soldiers to duty

forward psychiatry- keeping soldiers close to front line

round the clock monitoring

results in tension socially and possible end to career- means soldiers don’t want to reveal when they’re in distress

Costs of war project

Deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

examines the effects of middle eastern warfare

45 million combatants and 62 million civilians have died as a result of war

350,000 direct war deaths

2% US military

60% civilians

88,000 opposition

for every one person who died violently in wars around the world between 2004-2007 another four died from indirect causes (disease and malnutrition)

Reasons for decline in executions

bungling

shift in public opinion

civil rights movement

WWII- saw Nazis executing people

court cases that ended/change/restored capital punishment

1961-1984: no executions take place

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Furman v. Georgia: 5-4 decision each justice writing a separate decision

temporary death penalty ban, cruel and unusual b/c of how arbitrary it is

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Coker v. Georgia: life for life situation, grossly disproportionate death penalty for rape is unconstitutional

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Because of these, all death sentences in US changed to life imprisonment

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ban only bans the death penalty as practiced, not in of itself

Reasons for backlash against abolition of death penalty

capital punishment not meaningful until taken away by supreme court

narrative surrounding “state’s rights” to execution

reenters crime discussion after civil rights movement

used for right wing, tough on crime narrative

new procedures and problems with those procedures

1868-1909 Executions are PUBLIC

* conducted by sheriffs: have to figure out logistics by themselves
* RITUAL: walk to the gallows, prayer (looking for salvation), Last Dying Words, execution by hanging
* WENT WRONG: bungling, embarrassing, raucous, mixed race crowds, celebratory atmosphere

After this period:

* Black women blamed for bad behavior of Black men (sons)

New way to witness execution with some old rituals: all white crowds given tickets by local sheriffs, gather outside, less involved

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Later 20th century…

guided discretion does not curtail racial discrimination

promise of guidance discretion to avoid discrimination conflicts with the idea that every person should receive individualized treatment,

every solution to every problem seems to involve slowing the process down

concerns about innocence/exoneration

officers for those who can’t afford own defense

and capable, pubic defenders

technologies used for execution

rationale for making changes

The Chair

* 1909- NC is the 6th state in the US to adopt electrocution as a method of death
* process gets quieter, appears less painful, technology of death is less visible
* crowds become whiter
* shows civility, advancedness

medical elements and controversy in NC

NC Law, 1909, says a doctor must be present at an execution

2007: NC Medical board issues a statement that a physician can be present at an execution but they cannot help or even speak

National Nursing Org says it’s unethical

2009: NC Supreme Court rules that the Med Board cannot punish doctors; PAs and others could still lose their certification

Race and victim hierarchies

The death penalty has been shown to have racial and victim hierarchies. Studies have found that Black defendants are more likely to receive the death penalty than White defendants, especially when the victim is White. Additionally, cases involving White victims are more likely to result in the death penalty than cases involving Black victims.

The Racial Justice Act

2009

People that are condemned can use statistical analysis to demonstrate a pattern of racial discrimination

2012: Judge overturns 4 death sentences, Black jurors unlawfully excluded

2013: repealed

2020: NC Supreme Court reverses retroactive repeal

Up

* message of grief and mourning focus on embracing the present and finding community
* healing from grief and loss has transformative potential even beyond recovery
* researchers are considering not only how Pixar films' stories impact viewers, but also how they can be used to make death and dying less taboo in larger discussions

Educating on Death Row

availability of educational and restorative justice opportunities: widely available, offer range of classes for college credit

student attitudes toward those opportunities: students eager and engaged

student reflection on/acceptance of death and dying: students that are ready/accept their death, coming to terms with what they did and wanting the consequences

spiritualism and green burial

* agency in planning for death: idea in choice of how one wants to be buried and have a legacy in terms of carbon footprint
* the role of the ancestor
* availability of green burial options: $1,000-$4,000

children’s literature

* animals can serve as a safe and accessible entry point for expressing and exploring feelings about death and dying
* narratives featuring animals can help children understand and cope with death and dying

Lethal State selections

pgs 57-64: Charles Aston: death sentence for murder of police officer, systemic racism, ineffective counsel, flawed eyewitness testimony. Defense attorney failed to investigate and present evidence (i.e. inconsistencies in witness statements) Racial biases in jury selection process, inflammatory language to appeal to the jury’s prejudices.

pgs 85-110: Willie Mcleod and Junius Griffin: Black men arrested for attempting to integrate a whites-only bowling alley. while in jail found dead in cells. police claimed suicide, evidence of foul play. sparked protests.

Velma Barfield- white woman convicted of murder and executed, mental healthy issues and addiction; her clemency was denied

pgs 161-179

Kotch argues that the state's response was characterized by violence and repression, including the use of armed police and vigilante groups to intimidate and silence Lumbee activists. He also highlights the role of media coverage in shaping public perceptions of the Lumbee, as well as the broader political and social context of the Civil Rights movement in which these events took place. Through his analysis, Kotch challenges the dominant narrative of North Carolina as a progressive and liberal state, and instead reveals the ways in which state violence and repression were used to maintain white supremacy and resist demands for racial justice.

Last Meals on Death Row NY Times

* allowing condemned to choose a last meal portrays death row inmates as actors endowed with agency and individuality
* ordinariness of the last meal is a connection between the macabre world of death row and everyday life

Executioner’s Song

details Gary Gilmore’s execution

says “Let’s do it” as last words

firing squad

idea of blood atonement (spilling one’s own blood to pay for sins)

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Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage

He argues that the Ilongot's "headhunting" practices are closely linked to their mourning rituals and that these practices help them to manage their grief and express their anger towards death. Through his analysis, Rosaldo challenges the notion that grief is a universal emotion and instead suggests that it is culturally constructed and shaped by social practices.

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Notes from Case Zero: Anthropology in the Time of Ebola

Discusses the challenges faced by anthropologists in conducting research in the midst of a public health crisis, such as navigating ethical concerns, managing risks to personal safety, and working within the constraints of bureaucratic structures. ultimately concludes that anthropology has an important role to play in shaping public health policy and improving the effectiveness of emergency response efforts.

* help break stereotypes
* help allow for personal burial practices while facing ebola
* willing to be there

Buddy Watch: Reading

* 2 month period
* accompanied by peer
* meant to get soldier back for duty
* 17.5 suicides per 100,000

Send Me to the ‘lectric Chair

begging to be sent to the electric chair,

confession of guilt

kill me instead of spending time in jail

Electric chair blues

* blues as a means of explaining white establishment power over Black americans
* oral form in rural South → mass media explosion across the nation
* “primarily Black-to-Black communication”
* Thomas Edison used DC, Westinghouse used AC
* Edison wrote a letter to the commission pushing for use of AC for electric chair to taint Westinghouse image
* Smith created female character that avenges herself when lovers are unfaithful, to interrupt and discredit the routine internalization of male dominance

Lethal Gas

* Nevada
* could execute via gas 3 people at a time
* “humane and expeditious”
* execution as a state matter

What is it like to Survive an Execution by Lethal Injection

* Kenneth Smith lethal injection (murder of a preacher’s wife)
* difficulty accessing veins
* execution team kept anonymous
* riddled with holes, traumatized, strapped to gurney for four hours
* four hours- longest botched lethal injection in US history

Peculiar Institution

Idea that the Court has now taken responsibility for handling the death penalty, and instead of abolishing it, they have made the process more complicated.

Legal Challenges have put the death Penalty on Hold (WRAL)

* haven’t executed since 2006
* most people favor life in prison over the death penalty

In Landmark Decision….

grounds for Racial Justice Act:

* evidence that death sentences were sought more for particular race
* evidence that death sentences were sought more when victims were of a particular race
* evidence that race played a role in jury selection (Black jurors removed)

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McKleskey v. Kemp:

statistical data showing racial discrimination was not enough to overturn a death sentence

End-of-Life in Disney and Pixar Films

the large majority of visible deaths of side or extra characters and the frequency of positive and lacking emotional response, is problematic

death and dying less taboo

College Should be More like Prison

prisoners more eager and patient to learn than college students, actually care about the material

Black Churches and Green Funerals

modern funeral practices align with American greed, capitalism, and gentrification

green burials as a way to care for planet

ecological faith

absence of vault, non-toxic preparation of the body, containers made of organic materials

The Goodbye Book

simple composition, fish in bowl, other fish dies

Ida, Always

It tells the story of two polar bears, Gus and Ida, who live in the Central Park Zoo. When Ida becomes sick, Gus stays by her side until she passes away. The book explores themes of love, loss, and the importance of cherishing the time we have with those we care about.

The Memory Tree

fox dies, see the process of him dying, and lives on thru “memory tree” tree made from his dead body

Dealing with Death: The Role of Animal-Themed Literature in Supporting Children with Grief and Loss

The article discusses the use of animal-themed literature in helping children cope with grief and loss. It highlights the benefits of using such literature and provides examples of books that can be used for this purpose.