Methods of Capital Punishment Execution Research Paper
Uploaded by ihatesuchin on Jul 05, 2004
Methods of Execution
In the United States today, there are five existing methods of execution. These methods are used to kill convicted criminals that have been given the sentence of the death penalty. The different methods are; lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad shootings.
Lethal injection is currently used by thirty-six states in America. It is the most commonly used from of execution in the U.S. The preparation begins outside of the chamber with the use of a gurney. The convict is held to the gurney by wrist and ankle straps. There is then a cardiac monitor and stethoscope attached and started. In each arm there is a saline intravenous line. The convict is then covered by a sheet. The lines are turned off and the felon receives the first injection of sodium thiopental. This puts the felon to sleep. They are then injected with Pavulon, which relaxes all of the muscles in the body and stops breathing. Shortly after, the felon dies.
A second method of execution is electrocution. This method is done by putting the person in a wooden chair, which they are secured to by leather straps. The electric current runs through the head and out the leg. The first current is of two thousand or more volts of electricity, lasting only an approximated three seconds. The voltage is then lowered to help prevent external burning of the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the person's body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs or the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urinating, 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.
In a gas chamber execution the prisoner is put in a sealed steel chamber. The prisoner is restrained in a chair that has a pan below. At the first signal a valve is opened which releases hydrochloric acid into the pan. When a second signal is given tablets or crystals of about eight ounces of potassium cyanide is dropped into the acid. This combination creates a hydrocyanic gas. The fumes of this deadly gas rise and are inhaled by the prisoner, which kills them. The...