Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno, death penalty expert and founding director of Fordham Law’s Neuroscience and Law Center, spoke to La Voce di New York to discuss the practice of death row inmates being offered a “last meal” before their executions.
“Food is a focal point for all of us. It’s a point of enjoyment and pleasure and comfort, and that’s sort of its reputation,” said Deborah Denno, law professor and founding director of the Neuroscience and Law Center at Fordham University. “It seems that we would provide this for somebody who’s going to eat for the very last time, and that makes us feel better about ourselves. At the same time, it does seem very strange.”
“We’re human beings – we all fear death. It’s something we’re all going to face,” Denno said. “The fact that your last meal is documented in a way that, for the great majority of us, is probably not going to be, is something of a fascination.”
