Gallows Reprieves are stays of execution that are granted to a person who has been sentenced to death. They are usually granted by a higher authority, such as a court or government, and can be temporary or permanent. The term Gallows Reprieves comes from the practice of suspending a person from a gallows, which was a common form of execution in the past. A reprieve is a stay of execution that gives the condemned person a chance to appeal their sentence or to have their sentence commuted to a lesser punishment.