LIVING ON DEATH ROW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WAITING TO DIE, co-edited by Albany Law School Professor Vincent M. Bonventre, has been recognized by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) as one of the top scholarly works of the past year.  

The book—one of more than 500 entries—was named a 2019 PROSE Award winner in the category of Psychology. As such, it is in the running for the 2019 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences and the R.R. Hawkins Award, the AAP's top PROSE award. A panel of 18 judges selected the category winners, weighing scholarship value and contribution to the relevant field of study.

LIVING ON DEATH ROW was published in April 2018 by the American Psychological Association. The book, edited by Professor Bonventre and University at Albany Professors James R. Acker and Hans Toch, examines the psychological toll of the conditions that define death row, such as isolation and fear of impending death, and underlying legal and policy issues; it includes scholarly perspectives from psychologists, legal professionals, and criminologists, and personal accounts from prison administrators and death row inmates.

Professor Bonventre is the Justice Robert H. Jackson Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School. He teaches, comments, and advises on courts, judges, and various areas of public law, including judicial process, the Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals, criminal law, and civil liberties. Prior to joining the Albany Law School faculty in 1990, he was a law clerk to Judges Matthew J. Jasen and Stewart F. Hancock Jr. of the Court of Appeals. Between those clerkships, he was selected by Chief Justice Warren Burger to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Judicial Fellow. Previously, he served two tours in the U.S. Army—one in military intelligence and one as trial counsel in the JAG Corps.

Professor Bonventre is the author of New York Court Watcher, a blog devoted to research and commentary on the U.S. Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. He is also the founder and editor of State Constitutional Commentary, an annual publication of the Albany Law Review devoted to American state constitutional law, and he is the founder and director of the Center for Judicial Process.