Subject: States seek out volunteers to view executions

> July 22, 2000
>
> Volunteers sought to view executions
> Death-row tour included
>
> Simon Davis
> National Post (Canada)
>
> LOS ANGELES - The number of executions in the United States is so high
> states are advertising for volunteers to act as public witnesses to the
> killings.
>
> Both Arizona and Pennsylvania have asked the curious to apply and are
> offering days out on death row to see how one of the "most traditional
> forms of justice'' is meted out.
>
> A total of 38 states have the death penalty and the majority require
> public
> witnesses. Most say there should be at least six people present with no
> connection to the crime or to the media.
>
> The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. There were
> only 11 executions between then and 1984, but last year there were 98.
>
> In Arizona, where 11 inmates were scheduled for execution last year, the
> prison service scoured the state for witnesses, advertising in the press
> and on its Web site.
>
> The publicity drive proved successful and the state now has almost 100
> volunteers.
>
> In other states, too, officials keep a list of people interested in
> attending executions. But the pool of volunteers is running dry.
>
> All applicants are required to submit a letter detailing their reasons for
> wanting to attend. Only a few are turned down.
>
> "We get all sorts of people,'' said a spokesman for the Texas Corrections
> department, which has one of the highest numbers of executions. "They
> range
> from students who are doing a thesis on the death penalty to people in the
> film industry who are featuring an execution in their film and want to see
> a real one."
>
> Anti-execution campaigners say the drive to get more people to be
> witnesses should help their cause.
>
> "Once you have seen what happens to someone who is electrocuted, or dies
> from lethal injection, you will never forget it, and you will see how
> barbaric the situation is,'' said a spokesman for the Human Rights
> Commission To End the Death Penalty.
>
> Nearly all state correction departments now have their own Web site, which
> gives precise details about executions, including, in some cases, how
> witnesses are given refreshments before the execution.