METHODS OF EXECUTION ELECTROCUTION PRISONER IS STRAPPED TO

METHODS OF EXECUTION

ELECTROCUTION Ø PRISONER IS STRAPPED TO A CHAIR WITH BELTS ACROSS THE CHEST, GROIN, LEGS, AND ARMS. Ø 500 TO 2, 000 VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY IS RAN THROUGH THE PRISONER FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS. Ø THE STRAPS MAY PREVENT THE PRISONER FROM MOVING VIOLENTLY DUE BUT IN THE PROCESS, ELECTROCUTION CAUSES THE PRISONER TO DEFECATE, URINE, OR VOMIT. Ø ELECTROCUTION WAS THE SOLE METHOD IN NEBRASKA UNTIL 2008 WHEN IT WAS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

GAS CHAMBER Ø THE PRISONER IS STRAPPED TO A CHAIR IN AN AIRTIGHT CHAMBER. Ø BELOW THE CHAIR IS A PAIL OF SULFURIC ACID WHERE SODIUM CYANIDE IS RELEASED INTO THE PAIL CAUSING HYDROGEN CYANIDE GAS TO BE RELEASED. Ø THE PRISONER IS THEN INSTRUCTED TO INHALE THE GAS DEEPLY CAUSING THE PRISONER TO DIE FROM LACK OF OXYGEN TO THE BRAIN. Ø IN APRIL 2015, OKLAHOMA ALLOWED DEATH BY NITROGEN GAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO LETHAL INJECTION.

LETHAL INJECTION Ø THE PRISONER IS STRAPPED TO A GURNEY AND HOOKED UP TO A HEART MONITOR. Ø NEEDLES ARE INSERTED INTO THE PRISONER’S ARMS, TUBES ARE CONNECTED WHICH LEAD TO SEVERAL INTRAVENOUS DRIPS. Ø THE PRISONER IS PUT TO SLEEP VIA AN ANESTHETIC. ANOTHER DRUG IS ADMINISTERED TO PARALYZE THE MUSCLE SYSTEM, STOPPING THE PRISONER’S BREATHING. Ø LASTLY, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE IS ADMINISTERED TO STOP THE PRISONER’S HEART. Ø MOST COMMON METHOD USED BY ALL 32 STATES WHO HAVE DEATH PENALTY.