Failure™ Magazine

Well Executed?

A haunting new documentary examines the real-world implications of capital punishment.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under Arts & Entertainment, History

Most remarkable, perhaps, is that after 410 executions [December 1982-July 2008], there’s still no shortage of men getting ready to die; six scheduled for August 2008, three for September, one for October, and many others in the pipeline. In each case, the inmate will be dispatched in a manner of hours, forgotten by society before the end of the next news cycle. But as At the Death House Door makes clear, family members, victims’ families and others within the convict’s sphere of influence will continue to shoulder an emotional burden for the rest of their lives.

Even today, 13 years removed from his last execution, Pickett must periodically revisit the advice of his therapist, who once warned: “If you get emotionally involved with all these people … you are going to lose your life, you are going to lose your health [and] you are going to lose your job.” With the help of counseling he has now come to accept that he will never get over the cumulative effect of his past work, and that De Luna’s execution in particular will stay with him until the day he dies. “You will live with … those big ’ol eyes looking at you at the end,” his therapist once told him.

For his part, former corrections officer Allen has developed an entirely different coping mechanism, one that hinges on his ability to block out the past. On the wall of his office hangs a sheet of paper with the following message: “The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.”

The irony is that while Allen is hoping to forget, many of the inmates he helped execute desperately want to be remembered. Reviewing “Texas Death Row” it’s inescapable how many men express the hope that their passing will serve as a catalyst to do away with capital punishment. “If my death serves this purpose, then maybe it will be worthwhile,” said Jesse Dewayne Jacobs in his last statement, just seconds before he was executed for the abduction and shooting death of the ex-wife of his sister’s boyfriend.

But most of the men are understandably resigned to the fact that their death will have no impact whatsoever. On November 3, 2005, Melvin Wayne White, was put to death for kidnapping, assaulting and murdering a nine-year-old girl. His very last words no doubt reflected—and continue to reflect—the sentiment of the overwhelming majority of Texans: “All right, Warden. Let’s give them what they want.”

Recommended Books
“Within These Walls: Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain” by Reverend Carroll Pickett with Carlton Stowers (St. Martin’s Press)

“Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege in Huntsville, Texas” by William T. Harper (University of North Texas Press)

“Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era” edited by Bill Crawford (Plume)

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