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The electric chair was a device commonly used for the execution of convicted criminals during the 20th
century in the United States of America. It was first used in the
late 19th century. Its continued use in the 21st century seems to be rapidly on the way out. The electric chair was also used, for a time, in the
Philippines.
History
The first practical electric chair was invented by Harold P.
Brown. Brown was an employee of Thomas Edison's hired for the purpose
of researching electrocution and for the development of the electric
chair. Since Brown worked for Edison, and Edison promoted Brown's work, the development of the electric chair is often
erroneously credited to Edison himself. Brown's design was based on Alternating Current (AC), which was then just emerging as the rival to Edison's less
transport-efficient Direct Current (DC), which was further along in
commercial development.
New York State in 1886 established a committee to determine a new, more humane system of
execution to replace hanging. Neither Edison nor Westinghouse wanted their electrical
system to be chosen because they feared that consumers would not want the same type of electricity used to kill criminals in
their homes.
In order to prove that AC electricity was better for executions, Brown and Edison killed many animals, including a circus
elephant, while testing out their prototypes. They also held
executions of animals for the press in order to ensure that AC current was associated with electrocution. It was at these events
that the term "electrocution" was coined. Most of their experiments were conducted at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey laboratory in 1888.
The experiments apparently had their intended effects and the AC electric chair was adopted by the committee in 1889. [1]
The first execution via the electric chair was carried out on William
Kemmler in New York's Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890. The first woman to be executed in the electric chair was Martha M. Place, executed at Sing
Sing Prison on March 20, 1899. Before
long, it had become the prevalent method of execution in the USA, and remained so until the mid-1980s despite the increased popularity of the gas chamber
beginning in the 1950s.
Method
The condemned prisoner was typically strapped into the chair, with one electrode attached to the head and a second attached to
the leg. At least two applications of an electrical current would be applied for several minutes depending on the person. An
initial voltage of around 2,000 volts is used to break the initial resistance of the skin
and cause unconsciousness (in theory). The voltage is then lowered to reduce current flow so as to prevent burning. A current
flow of around 8 amps is usual. The body of the condemned would heat up to 138°F (59°C) and the electric current would
cause severe damage to internal organs.
In theory, unconsciousness occurs in a fraction of a second. However, there have been reports of victims' heads on fire, of
burning transformers, and of letting the crying victim wait in pain on the
floor of the execution room while the chair was fixed. In 1946, the electric chair failed
to kill Willie Francis, who
reportedly shrieked "Stop it! Let me breathe!" as he was being executed. It turned out that the portable electric chair had been
improperly set up by an intoxicated trusty. A case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court (Francis vs. Resweber), with lawyers for the murderer arguing that although
Francis did not die, he had, in fact, been executed. The argument was rejected, and Francis was returned to the electric chair
the following year.
Further, regardless of how well the execution was performed, some skin is always burned and it is unpleasant for the guard
charged with separating the burned, oozing skin from the seat belts. The victim loses control of his muscles after the initial
jolt of electricity, and may start to defecate and urinate on the floor beneath the chair. This led to a refinement in modern
electric chairs: they were padded, and came with automatic car-style seat
belts.
Decline
After Texas adopted lethal
injection as a method of execution in 1982, the use of the electric chair reduced
rapidly. As of 2004, the only places in the world still having the electric
chair as an option are the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Except for Nebraska, where it remains the only method of execution, inmates in the other states
must select it or lethal injection.
The electric chair has come under criticism because of several instances in which victims were not instantly killed, but had
to be subjected to multiple electric shocks, leading to a call for ending of the practice because many see it as cruel and unusual punishment. Trying to address
such concerns, Nebraska's new electrocution protocol calls for administration of a 15-second-long jolt of 2,450 volts of
electricity; after a 15-minute wait, a coroner then checks for signs of life. (Previously, an initial eight-second jolt of 2,450
volts was administered, followed by a one-second pause, then a 22-second jolt at 480 volts. After a 20-second break, the cycle
was repeated three more times.) Nebraska retains electrocution as its sole method of execution largely due to some strong
anti-death penalty opposition in its state legislature; death penalty abolitionists in the state hope to see electrocution ruled
as cruel and unusual punishment, leaving the state without a legal way of administering the death penalty if lethal injection is not legalized.
See also
External links
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