Refusing to let the justice system decide his fate, death row inmate James Robertson has volunteered for an early execution.
Robertson is fighting for his right to die after watching five fellow inmates executed.
Having spent 25 years waiting for his execution date, Robertson now wants to speed up his own death by firing his lawyers and representing himself.
Ultimately, the move could help him bypass years of appeals and fast-track his execution.
Robertson has been on South Carolina’s death row since 1999 after murdering his parents to inherit their estate.
After watching five friends, including his best friend Marion Bowman Jr., executed in recent months, Robertson is now determined to join them rather than continue his appeals process.
Federal Judge Mary Gordon Baker has delayed Robertson’s request for 45 days to ensure he fully understands the consequences of representing himself.
This delay shows how the justice system continues to move at a glacial pace even when dealing with a confessed murderer who wants his sentence carried out.
Robertson’s current attorney, Emily Paavola, is fighting to keep her client from exercising his right to face his punishment.
She has argued that depression and other health issues make him mentally incompetent.
Robertson himself understands the situation clearly, stating: “No ethical attorney will withdraw an appeal that will result in their client’s execution.”
Tommy Pope, the prosecutor who originally secured Robertson’s death sentence, acknowledged the reasoning behind such decisions:
“If you told me, be incarcerated on death row the rest of your life or just go ahead and go to the Lord, you know, I might choose the latter too.”
Pope also described Robertson as intelligent and manipulative, often believing himself smarter than his attorneys.
This pattern explains Robertson’s history of attempting to drop his appeals, dating back to the early 2000s when he expressed a preference for execution over life imprisonment.
Robertson explained how watching his best friend’s execution affected his decision:
“It hasn’t changed my view. What it did was it made me understand—enhanced reality a bit—to see my best friend go from one day playing cards with me to the next day not being here anymore. He basically has taken a similar route that I’m choosing to take now, and we spoke often about his decision.”
While anti-death penalty activists often claim that “volunteers” for execution suffer from mental illness, Robertson’s case demonstrates how some death row inmates rationally prefer a quicker death to decades of imprisonment with no hope of release.
The case raises important questions about individual rights versus state control.
If Robertson, who has admitted his guilt and accepted his sentence, wants to speed up the process, why should attorneys and judges stand in his way?
