RSSOf Fries and Getting Fried: The Allure of Death Row Menus
This article appeared on TIME.com in August of 2000. Note, the Texas Death Row Final Meal request page has since been taken down by the State’s Department of Correctional Services
Extract:
Just two weeks, ago, for example, murderer Juan Soria wanted “chicken, three pieces of fish, burgers, pizza, fruit (grapes, plums, peaches, apples, tangerines), doughnuts, walnuts, chocolate candy bar, plain potato chips, picante sauce, hot sauce, salad with ranch dressing, Coke and Sprite” before going to meet his maker. A month earlier, Jessy San Miguel, who had killed four people execution-style while robbing a Taco Bell, had asked for “Pizza (beef, bacon bits, and multiple types of cheese), 10 quesadillas (5 mozzarella cheese, 5 cheddar cheese), 5 strips of open-flame grilled beef, 5 strips of stir-fried beef, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, sweet tea, double fudge chocolate cake, broccoli and grapes” before he lay down for the last time on that Huntsville gurney.
I can’t deny my own voyeuristic fascination as I scroll down through the choices of men being offered one final moment of the “freedom” to be a consumer. Their choices, as diverse, poignant and sometimes just plain wacky as they are, offer clues to their identities and character… But even more fascinating than the contents of the site, perhaps, is the decision by the folks down at Huntsville to post this information on the Web.
Click here to read the full story
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