Washington Post details that so many death sentence are functionally LWOP sentences

The Washington Post has this lengthy new article discussing the state of capital punishment administration and death rows in the US. The piece’s full headline previews its themes: “Between Life and Death: More than 2,100 people sit on American death rows. Will most of them die there waiting to be executed?”.  Here are excerpts:

Across the nation, more than half of the approximately 2,100 prisoners with death sentences are incarcerated in jurisdictions where executions are on hold, according to a Washington Post analysis. Many appear likely to die without seeing the inside of an execution chamber….

Many inmates on death row nationwide and scores of others affected by their cases — including victims’ loved ones — have been left in a state of limbo that can stretch on indefinitely, raising fundamental questions about the American justice system….

Supporters of capital punishment say that leaving death sentences unfulfilled lets horrific crimes go unpunished and misleads victims’ loved ones. Opponents of the practice also decry leaving prisoners on death row endlessly, saying that perpetuates a system they call unjust and cruel.

“In a courtroom, they have said, ‘This is the sentence,’” said Duffie Stone, an elected prosecutor in South Carolina who has successfully sought the death penalty in court. “For that sentence not to mean what it says calls our criminal justice system into question.”…

Nearly 80 percent of prisoners sentenced to death — 1,681 people — are held in eight states, five of which are not currently carrying out executions.

Governors have imposed moratoriums in California (which has 612 death row inmates) and Pennsylvania (95). In Arizona (111), executions were paused after the governor ordered a review of the state’s procedures for carrying them out. And the governor in Ohio (114) has said executions there were paused because of a lack of execution drugs. In North Carolina (136), a court order blocks executions.

Florida, Texas and Alabama, which regularly carry out executions, hold a total of 613 people on death row.