| Description |
xiv, 242 p. : ill. ; 21 x 24 cm. + 1 videodisc (DVD ; 4 3/4 in.) |
| Series |
Documentary arts and culture |
|
Documentary arts and culture.
|
| Note |
"Published ... in association with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University." |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Note |
"Death Row is a film about daily life on Death Row in Texas. When the film was made in March 1979, 114 men were housed in the special death cells of Ellis prison's rows J-21 and J-23. The men spend their time waiting for the State to kill them or fighting as hard as they can to prevent that death from happening."--website. |
| Contents |
On death row -- pt. I. Pictures : The row ; Food ; In the J-23 dayroom ; A volleyball game in the cage ; Hands and mirrors ; Eight who were resentenced to life and are now doing time ; Three who are still there, one who was resentenced to life and then paroled, and one who was set free after twenty-one years and then exonerated ; Twelve dead men -- |
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pt. II. Words : Being there ; Killable killers ; Dangerous people ; Good time and hard time ; The prisoner Jack Smith and the late Excell White ; Terminology ; Getting to J ; Ellis's yellow line ; Visitors ; Counts ; Recreation ; Porters, floorboys, building tenders ; Noise ; Night, Brandon, Emily, and George ; Violence ; Craziness and boredom ; All the things a man might do on the row ; Sockets and glass ; Nowhere land ; Time ; Living space and killing space ; The death house ; Getting off the row ; Why execute? ; Equity: Callins v. James ; Giving up on death ; Trends ; Records -- |
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pt. III. Working : Avoiding the row ; An invitation ; Building tenders ; Documenting the row ; Bona fides ; "I'd like to cut your fuckin' throat" ; Trust ; Why talk? ; Punishing Diane ; Testifying ; Screening Death Row ; Brent Bullock Jr. and Norman Mailer ; In This Timeless Time -- |
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Appendixes : 1. Layout of Ellis Unit inside the Fence ; 2. The DR three-ring binder ; 3. Justice Thurgood Marshall's dissent in Gregg v. Georgia -- Cases. |
| Summary |
Presents an examination of life on death row in a Texas prison, covering the brutal everyday experiences of the inmates and discussing the inconsistencies and arbitrariness of the judicial system in condeming prisoners. |
| Subject |
Death row -- United States.
|
|
Death row inmates -- United States.
|
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Capital punishment -- United States.
|
| Added Author |
Christian, Diane, 1939-
|
|
Duke University. Center for Documentary Studies.
|
| Added Title |
Death row |
| ISBN |
9780807835395 (cloth : alk. paper) |
|
0807835390 (cloth : alk. paper) |
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