Three years ago, when I was still in sixth-form and taking my A-levels, I was lucky to be taught by Hannah Eldridge in Law. Since I started my course at university, my and Hannah's Twitter interactions have been top-notch - and full of Suits GIFs, obviously.
When I saw her Tweet about an Instagram live she was going to make about her penpal on death row, which she was doing as part of a charity, I knew I had to ask her about her experience. I asked friends, family and followers what kind of questions they had and sent them over to Hannah who was kind enough to provide me with a really interesting insight into her correspondence.
You can read the full interview below.
Q1. How did you initially get involved with the penpal, and how long have you been in contact with him for?
I signed up to the charity Lifelines in January after reading about death row charities in the press. My degree and masters are both in Law and I have taught A level Law for 17 years, so it is something that I am very passionate about. Lifelines is a charity that puts you in contact with a person on death row - as opposed to fighting for a person’s innocence. I was assigned a mentor in Florida, who then coordinated putting me in contact with my penpal. We first started having contact in February this year. This is done via the jail e-mail system, and I buy e-stamps when I send an email (they are less than the price of a stamp in this country!).
Q2. With the recent pandemic situation that has seen almost all of the country go into self-isolation for months, there has been a rise of reported mental health afflictions. How does your penpal, who has been isolated from society for years, deal with his mental health?
My penpal has been in prison on death row for 30 years and he is now 60 years old. When lockdown started, I asked him how he coped with isolation and lack of human contact and the mental impact this has. He said that we need to find the good in small things, for example, if it’s a sunny day or if we had something nice to eat. A lot of advice for us online is to write down 3 good things that have happened each day.
What I have learned from lockdown is that I would not be able to cope in prison. The irony is that at the moment, he has more human contact than we do as he is in a crowded prison. I think if he ever was released from prison he wouldn’t be able to cope with the outside world. The day-to-day routine of prison provides security and structure for him.
Q3. How have your conversations evolved over time? Could you give a few examples of what you both talk about?
Sometimes it is difficult to know what to write about, as I feel I am conscious that I have my freedom and he doesn’t. He enjoys discussing what music he listens to - I think that helps him mentally. I have asked him about prison life and the daily routine - he is allowed out into the yard to walk around twice a week. I tell him what I have been doing, for example, films I have watched, and we talk about current affairs a bit too. He has some access to the news, so he is aware of what is happening in the world.
Q4. What is one aspect of daily life in death row that most people wouldn’t know about?
Most people take a daily shower for granted - on death row, you are entitled to 3 showers a week. He is in prison in Florida and when the governor signs the execution warrant you can choose how you die: electric chair or lethal injection.
Q5. Knowing what you know about your penpal, are there any ways that you think the legal justice system should change? If you plead not guilty to murder in America, the jury decides whether you are innocent or not (like in England). However, the jury then have a second role - if they find you guilty, they then decide whether you should get life in prison or the death penalty - I would change that, as I don’t think juries should be sentencing. The other thing is that every person on that jury has to support the death penalty, otherwise, the prosecution will remove them. In this country, juries are randomly selected, whereas in America they pick and choose a lot more - that’s the second thing I would change. Q6. Before you both began contact, what were your views on the death penalty - were you for or against? Has that view reinforced or weakened now? I have always been strongly against the death penalty as it’s inhumane and doesn’t work as a deterrent. My contact with somebody on death row has strengthened my views. People sometimes make awful mistakes and commit awful crimes. They of course should be punished, but I cannot see anything that is right with the death penalty.
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Hopefully by now you’ve made it through the end of the interview and learned something from Hannah’s experience. I personally found this very helpful in keeping perspective on how to stay positive during lockdown and a reminder that there are people in far worse situations than us, with less freedom to claim than us - at least we don’t have to ration out our showers! I also applaud Hannah for her taking the time out to correspond with a death row inmate, and for sharing her experience for you to read.