The Death Penalty: Methods of Execution in America Essay

They thought execution by gas chamber was a more humane way of executing prisoners. Only five states authorize lethal gas as a method of execution, but all have lethal injection as a secondary option. The inmate is strapped to a chair in an airtight chamber. Below the chair rests a bucket of sulfuric acid. A long stethoscope is usually attached to the inmate so that a doctor on the outside the chamber can pronounce death. When everyone has left the chamber, it is sealed. The warden gives a signal to the executioner who turns on a lever that releases crystals of sodium cyanide into the bucket. This causes a chemical reaction that releases hydrogen cyanide gas. The prisoner is told to breathe deeply to speed up the process. The inmate does not lose consciousness immediately. According to former San Quenton, California, 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." The feeling 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 fan removes the poison air out of the chamber, and the corpse is sprayed with ammonia to neutralize any remaining traces of cyanide. Half an hour later, nurses enter the chamber, wearing gas masks and rubber gloves.

Evans was reportedly screaming and writhing in his seat. It is also reported that Evans head even caught on fire. Many witnesses also give the first-hand account of the stench of burnt hair and flesh. For many criminals, their actual execution lasted longer than originally expected.

In this article it states what all methods are used for the death penalty. In Eight states it allows electrocution (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). Three states it allows the gas chamber (Arizona, Missouri, and Wyoming). Three other states allow hanging (Delaware, New Hampshire, and Washington). Two other states allow the firing squad (Oklahoma and Utah), though only Oklahoma is the one that uses it. Utah allowed that option before it was banned in 2004.

Execution by firing squad has a long history in America. The first recorded execution by firing squad was in 1608, when George Kendall, one of the original councilors in the colony of Virginia was put to death. People opposed to the death penalty say that being shot to death if a form of cruel and unusual punishment. There have been cases where the marksmen have missed the shot and it has taken a man over an hour to die from his wounds. Another problem with this form of execution is that some members of the firing squad have been known to aim away from the man 's heart, shooting him where it would take longer to die. (116)

chest. The electric chair is when the chair gives off 2300 volts for about ten seconds. Then there is a low voltage of 1000, which goes on for about twenty seconds. But the murderer is usually dead by the first ten seconds. Lethal Gas is now only used in California

When a person has a condition such as collapsing veins, the method that is used is electrocution. The Gas Chamber has been used 11 times since 1976. In 1944, in Nevada the gas chamber was first used. During the process of executing a person in the gas chamber, the person is sat down and restrained in an airtight chamber, then cyanide pellets are released into a sulfuric acid solution, causing a lethal gas to flow into the room.

If someone committed a crime so harsh, and inhumane do you believe that they should be put to death? The death penalty, also known as capital punishment is defined as “punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.” (Dictionary.com). The first recorded execution in the United States English American colonies was in 1608 (Reggio). There are multiple execution methods such as; beheading, crucifixion, poisoning, hanging, and electrocuting. Currently, as of 2017 capital punishment is legal in 32 out of 50 States in the United States (CNN). This paper will be discussing the benefits and disadvantages of the death penalty currently in the United States.

The death penalty was introduced to The United States by Britain. There have been over 14,000 executions in The United States since 1608. In 2011, 36 states held 3,158 inmates under the death sentence. Hanging, firing squad, the gas chamber, the electric chair, and lethal injections are all methods that are and were used in the history of The United States. Many individuals do not realize what the prisoners go through before getting executed. They also do not know what happens during the execution. The means of execution can be carried out through what types of executions are there, the development of lethal injection, botched execution through the eighth amendment, and the conflict of a trained medical

At present there are five methods of execution. The most commonly used form of execution is by lethal injection. In this method the convict is first injected with sodium thiopental, which puts the person to sleep, then he/she is injected with Pavulon, which finally kills him. [1] The next most common method of execution used is electrocution in which the person is tied with leather straps to a chair and electric current of two thousand or more volts is passed through the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the person’s body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs of the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urination, vomiting of blood, change in skin color, and even swelling or burning of the skin may occur. This method of execution is currently used by only eleven states. The third method is gas chamber execution in which hydrochloric acid and potassium is used to kill the convict. One of oldest methods of executions is hanging and last method is by shooting. All the five methods are inhumane and cruel. The convict dies within a few seconds. He never gets the time to realize his mistake, repent over it or to correct it. Killing that person

There are currently five different ways to carry out the death penalty in the United States. The first is death by firing squad. Death occurs because of massive damage to the body's vital organs, heart, central nervous system, or by a combination of these different effects with hemorrhage (The Execution Protocol). Probably the quickest way to execute a human being with a gun is to fire a single bullet from a piston at point blank range into the head. Yet in Idaho and Utah, the law specifies a five-man rifle squad.

Capital punishment was made upon the earliest colonial governments in the early seventeenth century (Bedau). In 1845, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty in all crimes except for treason (Part I). In 1977 Oklahoma becomes the first state to adopt lethal injection as the means of execution (Part I). New York built the first electric chair in 1888 (Part I). Nevada was the first to adopt the cyanide gas (Part I). In 2016, Nevada and Washington are the two states who only keep hanging as an execution (Part I). Since this movement has been abolished, 1259 people have been executed by a lethal injection, 158 by the electric chair, 11 from the gas chamber, and 3 each from hanging and firing squad (Part I). As of

The firing squad is the most cruel method of execution due to it’s gruesome scenes. The firing squad is the least preferred method of execution. It is used only in Utah and Oklahoma, and only if the lethal injection is not available or if the victim chooses it (Dieter 3). A doctor locates the heart and puts a white target over it, and soon after, executioners shoot the victim, aiming for the heart. If the executioners miss, and the heart of the victim is not shot, they will leave the victim to bleed to death (R. Bohm).

Electrocution was first practiced in New York City by the use of an electric chair. The person is strapped to a chair with belts across his chest, legs, and arms and a metal skullcap-shaped is then attached to the forehead. It will run between 500 and 2000 volts, which can take about 30 seconds for the inmate to lose his life (Death Penalty Information, 2014). Another use of execution was the use of the gas chamber during the 1920s. Gee Jon was the first prisoner on which the gas chamber was used. The officers of the prison, in Nevada, pumped gas into his cell while he was sleeping. Firing Squad is a method of execution that is mainly practiced in the state of Utah. This was done by having the prisoner stand 20 feet away from the guards, and the five of the guards would aim with .30 caliber rifles and shoot at the prisoner's heart. The prisoner would then die as a result of blood loss. The last practice of execution that was done until the 1890s was hanging. This was a primary form of execution used in the United States. “If the

When discussing the death penalty, rarely do we acknowledge the impact executions have on the men and women who facilitate the process. Although this process is solely voluntary, the side effects are not. According to several executioners, the first experience is far from what they had anticipated. To bring to light the stories of these men and women, Jim Willet facilitates an audio recording which covers the process of executing an inmate and the aftermath which is often felt by the executioner.

The issue of the death penalty has been of great concern and debate for a number of years now. Prior to 1976, the death penalty was banned in the United States. In 1976, though, the ban was lifted, and many states adopted the death penalty in their constitutions. Currently, there are 38 states that use the death penalty, and only 12 states that do not. The states that have the death penalty use a number of ways to go about executing the defendant. Thirty-two states use lethal injection, 10 use electrocution, 6 use the gas chamber, 2 use hanging, and 2 states use a firing squad (Death Penalty Information Center, 1997). The 12 states that do not have the death penalty are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,