Inside Florida death row: The life of an inmate sentenced to execution

Florida's first known execution dates back to 1827 and came to a pause in 1972 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty statewide in the case of Furman v Georgia. A couple of years later in 1976, the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty and became the first state to carry out a non-voluntary execution since the court's decision, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

As of 2023, 299 men and women are on death row in Florida. Some prisoners have offenses that date as far back as the 1970s.

Death row inmates have specific routines that differ from that of other prisoners. Here's a look at the life of a death row inmate:

The daily routine of a death row inmate

Death row inmates get served three meals a day: the first one at 5 a.m., the second one from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the third one from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The meals are served to inmates in their 6 x 9 x 9.5 feet high cells either at the Lowell Correctional Institution (for women) or the Union Correctional Institution (for men).

Inmates who are awaiting execution following the signing of a death warrant by the governor are sent to a "Death Watch" cell that is 12 x 7 x 8.5 feet high. Before execution, an inmate can request a local last meal not to exceed $40.

They are also allowed to shower every other day.

When it comes to security, death row inmates are counted at least once an hour. They are escorted in handcuffs and wear them everywhere except in their cells, the exercise yard, and the shower.

They are in the cells all the time except for medical reasons, exercise, social or legal visits, or media interviews. When a death warrant is signed the inmate is put under Death Watch status and is allowed a legal and social phone call.

Can a death row inmate receive mail?

Inmates are allowed to receive mail every day except on holidays and weekends. They can have snacks, radios, and televisions in their cells. They do not have cable television or air-conditioning, and they are not allowed to be with each other in a common room. They can watch church services on closed-circuit television.

When an inmate transitions to death watch, they can have radios and televisions positioned outside their cell bars.

Death row inmates also wear clothing that distinguishes them from regular inmates. They wear orange t-shirts. Their pants are the same blue-colored pants worn by regular inmates.

Can a death row inmate get visitors?

People who wish to visit an inmate on death row must be approved before visitation is allowed. The Classification Officer responsible for the inmate at the inmate's assigned facility can answer all questions regarding an inmate's visiting days, visiting hours, and special visits.

How many women are on death row in Florida?

There are three women who are currently on death row in Florida and are awaiting execution.

— Tiffany Cole - She was sentenced to death on March 6, 2008, in Duval County after being convicted in the July 2005 kidnappings and murders of James and Carol Sumner in Jacksonville, Florida.

— Margaret Allen - She was sentenced to death on May 19, 2011, after being convicted in the kidnappings and death of her housekeeper, friend, and neighbor, Wenda Wright, in Brevard County in 2005.

— Tina Brown - Tina Brown was sentenced to death on September 28, 2012, and began serving her sentence on October 3, 2012. She was convicted in the brutal killing of Audreanna Zimmerman, who was shocked with a stun gun, beaten, and set on fire. Zimmerman then walked a third of a mile to get help, and ultimately died at the hospital days later.

How many men are on death row in Florida

There are 296 men who are on death row in Florida.

Donald Dillbeck is set to be executed on Thursday for a 1990 murder. Dillbeck was sentenced to death on March 15, 1991.

Source: fox35orlando.com, Staff, February 21, 2023

Florida to execute first inmate in 4 years as state looks to enact country's lowest death penalty threshold

Lawmakers in Florida are pushing a bill to lower the threshold required to give someone a death sentence

Florida is scheduled to carry out its first execution in four years later this week, prompting anti-death penalty advocates to protest against it and push for eliminating the death penalty.

GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant on Monday for Donald Dillbeck, 59, who was convicted of fatally stabbing a woman during a carjacking at a mall in Tallahassee in 1990. The stabbing came two days after he escaped from custody while serving a life sentence for killing a sheriff's deputy in 1979.

Dillbeck execution is set for Thursday and advocates are traveling the state this week in protest of the death penalty.

"Why kill people who kill people to show Americans killing people is wrong?" Journey of Hope Co-Founder SueZann Bosler told FOX 13.

Bosler was part of a group outside the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday protesting the death penalty as part of a statewide tour by the organization Death Penalty Action. She previously worked to have the death sentence for her father's killer, James Campbell, reduced to a life sentence, an effort that was eventually granted after four trials.

"If James was given life at the beginning, I would have had all those years to start healing early right after it happened so that I would be in a better place today and easier and more relaxed and better with myself," Bosler said.

Florida currently has 301 people on death row, and an execution has not been carried out in the Sunshine State since 2019, the longest the state has gone without an execution since 1983. And lawmakers in Florida are pushing a bill to make it easier to sentence someone to death.

House Bill 555, which is being considered by the state legislature, would reduce the number of jurors needed to give someone a death sentence. State law currently requires a unanimous decision for a death sentence but, if the bill is passed, only eight jurors would have to agree.

The threshold of eight jurors for the death penalty would be the lowest in the country. Only a few states do not require a unanimous decision by the jury, including Alabama, which mandates that 10 jurors must agree on a death sentence.

"If I was going to help the government kill James, I would be just like James," Bosler said. "I would be. My title would be murderer, too, so they don't think that's why we need to educate these people."

Source: foxnews.com, Landon Mion, February 22, 2023

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