For the first time in its history, the U. S. Supreme Court has decided to review the use of the electric chair to carry out death sentences. Since its first use in 1890, there have been several instances in which the electric chair inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on criminals sentenced to death. The Supreme Court should find that using the electric chair is a form of cruel and unusual punishment.
Recently, there has been a series of malfunctions that demonstrate the cruelty of using the electric chair. This July during the execution of Allen Lee Davis, his blood began to seep through his shirt and nose before he finally died. In Florida earlier this decade, during several executions, flames shot out of the convicts’ masks, and the stench of burned skin was obvious. The use of the electric chair in other states has produced similar results.
The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits the use of cruel and unusual punishment. The electric chair clearly has violated this standard. Of the 38 states that allow the death penalty, currently only seven allow the electric chair to be used. In three of those, the criminal can choose between the electric chair and an alternative form of execution, such as lethal injection.
The Supreme Court has neglected to consider this issue in the past and should now finally find that the electric chair cruelly applies the death sentence.