Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 22, 2014 19:19:43 GMT -5
Execution in the United States
Lethal Injection. In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a method of execution, though it would be five more years until Charles Brooks became the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 2, 1982. Today, all 32 states that have the death penalty use this method.
When a condemned person is dispatched by lethal injection, he/she is usually bound to a gurney and a member of the execution team positions several heart monitors on the skin. Two needles (one is a backup) are then inserted into usable veins, usually in the inmate’s arms. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, at the warden’s signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room, after which the individual is injected with sodium thiopental – an anesthetic, which puts him (or her) to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate’s breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest during which time the condemned person is unconscious.
Medical ethics preclude the participation of doctors in executions, however, a doctor will certify death. This lack of medical participation can be problematic because often injections are performed by inexperienced technicians or orderlies. If a member of the execution team injects the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, or if the needle becomes clogged, extreme pain may result. Many prisoners have damaged veins resulting from intravenous drug use and it is sometimes difficult to find a usable vein, resulting in long delays while the inmate remains strapped to the gurney.
Electrocution. Seeking a more humane method of execution than hanging, the state of New York built the first electric chair in 1888 and executed William Kemmler in 1890. Soon, other states adopted this execution method. Today, electrocution is not used as the sole method of execution in any state. Electrocution was the sole method in Nebraska until the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional in February 2008.
For execution by electric chair, the person is usually shaved and strapped to a chair with belts that cross the chest, groin, legs and arms. A metal skullcap-shaped electrode is attached to the scalp and forehead over a sponge moistened with saline. The sponge must not be too wet or the saline short-circuits the electrical current, and not too dry, as it would then have a very high resistance. An additional electrode is moistened with conductive jelly (Electro-Creme) and attached to the prisoner’s leg that has been shaved to reduce resistance to electricity. A hood is then placed over the prisoner’s head. After the execution team has withdrawn to the observation room, the warden signals the executioner, who pulls a handle to connect the power supply. A jolt of between 500 and 2000 volts, which continues for about 30 seconds, is administered. The current surges and is then turned off, at which time the body relaxes. The doctors wait a few seconds for the body to cool and then check to see if the inmate’s heart is still beating. If it is, another jolt is applied. This process continues until the prisoner is dead. The prisoner’s hands often grip the chair and there may be violent movement of the limbs which can result in dislocation or fractures and the tissues swell. The prisoner usually urinates and defecates, but not always. Steam or smoke rises from the head and there is a smell of burning flesh. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once offered the following description of an execution by electric chair:
“... the prisoner’s eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on [his] cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates and vomits blood and drool. The body turns bright red as its temperature rises, and the prisoner’s flesh swells and his skin stretches to the point of breaking. Sometimes the prisoner catches fire. ... Witnesses hear a loud and sustained sound like bacon frying and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh permeates the chamber.”
At postmortem, the body is hot enough to blister if touched and the autopsy is delayed while the internal organs cool. There are third degree burns with blackening where the electrodes were applied to the scalp and leg. According to Robert H. Kirschner, the deputy chief medical examiner of Cook County, “The brain appears cooked in most cases.”
Gas Chamber. In 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced as Nevada sought a more humane method of executing its criminals. Gee Jon was the first person executed by lethal gas. The state attempted to pump cyanide gas into Gee’s cell while he slept, but this proved impossible because the gas leaked from the cell into other areas, so the gas chamber was constructed. Today, five states authorize lethal gas as a method of execution, but all have lethal injection as an alternative method. Nevertheless, a federal court in California found this method to be cruel and unusual.
For execution by gas, the condemned person is strapped to a chair in an airtight chamber. Below the chair rests a pail of sulfuric acid. A long stethoscope is typically affixed to the inmate so that a doctor outside the chamber can pronounce death. Once everyone has left the chamber, the door is closed, sealing the room. The warden then gives a signal to the executioner who flicks a lever that releases crystals of sodium cyanide into the pail. This causes a chemical reaction that releases hydrogen cyanide gas. The prisoner is instructed to breathe deeply to speed up the process, however, most try to hold their breath and some struggle. The inmate does not lose consciousness immediately.
According to former San Quenton Penitentiary Warden Clifton Duffy, “At first there is evidence of extreme horror, pain and strangling. The eyes pop. The skin turns purple and the victim begins to drool.” Before he died in California’s gas chamber in 1960, Caryl Chessmanin told reporters he would nod his head if it hurt. Witnesses said he nodded his head for several minutes. According to Dr. Richard Traystman of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, “The person is unquestionably experiencing pain and extreme anxiety. ... The sensation is similar to the pain felt by a person during a heart attack, where essentially the heart is being deprived of oxygen.” The inmate dies from hypoxia, the cutting-off of oxygen to the brain. At postmortem, an exhaust fan sucks the poison air out of the chamber and the corpse is sprayed with ammonia to neutralize any remaining traces of cyanide. Around a half-hour later, orderlies wearing gas masks and rubber gloves enter the chamber. Their training manual advises them to ruffle the victim’s hair to release any trapped cyanide gas before removing the deceased.
Firing Squad. The firing squad still remains a method of execution in Utah if chosen by an inmate sentenced before lethal injection became the sole method. The most recent execution by firing squad was that of John Albert Taylor on January 26, 1996. The best-known execution by firing squad in recent history was that of Gary Gilmore on January 17, 1977, which inspired Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song and a movie by the same name.
For execution by firing squad, the inmate is typically bound to a chair, with leather straps across his waist and head, in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is surrounded by sandbags to absorb the blood. A black hood is pulled over his head and a physician locates the inmate’s heart with a stethoscope and pins a circular white cloth target over it. Standing in an enclosure 20 feet away, five marksmen are armed with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds, however, one of the rifles is loaded with blanks. Each of the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires at the condemned man. The prisoner dies as a result of blood loss caused by rupture of the heart or a large blood vessel, or tearing of the lungs. The person shot loses consciousness when shock results from a reduction in the supply of blood to the brain. If the shooters miss the heart – by accident or intention – the prisoner usually slowly bleeds to death.
Hanging. Until the 1890s, hanging was the primary method of execution in the United States and is still used in Delaware and Washington state, although both have lethal injection as an alternative method.
For execution by hanging, the inmate is usually weighed the day before the execution and there is a rehearsal using a sandbag of the same weight as the prisoner. This is to determine the length of “drop” necessary to ensure a quick death. If the rope is too long, the inmate could be decapitated and if it is too short, it could take as long as 45 minutes for him (or her) to strangle to death. The rope, which should be ¾-inch to 1¼-inch in diameter, must be boiled and stretched to eliminate spring or coiling and the knot itself lubricated with wax or soap “to ensure a smooth sliding action,” according to the 1969 U.S. Army manual. Immediately before the execution, the prisoner’s hands and legs are secured, he is blindfolded and the noose is placed around the neck, with the knot behind the left ear. The execution takes place when a trap-door is opened and the prisoner falls through. The prisoner’s weight should cause a rapid fracture-dislocation of the neck. However, instantaneous death is rare. If the inmate has strong neck muscles, is very light, if the “drop” is too short, or the noose has been wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation is impaired and death results from slow asphyxiation. If this occurs, the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the person urinates, defecates and in the case of males – often ejaculates – and the limbs jerk violently.
Sources: Deathquest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States, The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine and The New Republic.
