# How might the Electric Chair be modernized? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152 "2014-05-24T04:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/41 "2014-05-25T13:18:01Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Because the makers of an anaesthesia drugs don’t want to be associated with executions. That is the problem they are having now. Prisons can’t just use any drug they want, because no one will sell it to them. Why not have the prisons order the drugs from hospitals who then order from the drug companies? That way, the drug companies have “plausible deniability”, the hospitals just say they use the drugs in legitimate operations and the prisons can just play dumb. Easy!!!1 ::d&r::😃 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/42 "2014-05-25T14:06:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And we are back to “where can prisons buy happy drugs, if drug companies won’t sell to prisons?” Seems to me that the real solution might be to obfuscate the state procurement process somehow, so that it’s not immediately clear that the drug is to be used in executions. Maybe by having all state purchases go through some central procurement office used for all teaching hospitals, free clinics and public hospitals in that state, or by buying it third-hand from some private pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/43 "2014-05-25T14:36:02Z")
Use a shiatsu massage chair with heat, lumbar support and vibrating seat. Hey, the guy might turn out to be innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/44 "2014-05-25T15:08:53Z")
I’d give them a narcotic and just freeze them to death. The body naturally shuts down and goes into hypothermia which causes them to sleep and they painlessly die. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/45 "2014-05-25T16:13:36Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > Why not have the prisons order the drugs from hospitals who then order from the drug companies? That way, the drug companies have “plausible deniability”, the hospitals just say they use the drugs in legitimate operations and the prisons can just play dumb. Easy!!!1 No-one is able to get the drugs. They’re made in the European Union, which has banned their export to third countries which use them for lethal injection (in other words, banned export to the United States). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/46 "2014-05-25T18:05:53Z")
> [@Fishtar](#): > > The American Humane Society says a bullet to the back of the head is the most humane form of euthanasia. I say listen to the experts. Agreed. Modify Ol’ Sparky to hold the guy in place and have an adjustable platform in the rear that can be lined up with the back of the head, right where the spine comes in. Have it fire at least a .38 caliber round at that target. The firing can be accomplished by remote control - three people press a button. Only one of the buttons works, so no one knows who actually fired the round. It’ll turn the condemned guy off like a lightswitch. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/47 "2014-05-25T18:11:01Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Agreed. Modify Ol’ Sparky to hold the guy in place and have an adjustable platform in the rear that can be lined up with the back of the head, right where the spine comes in. Have it fire at least a .38 caliber round at that target. The firing can be accomplished by remote control - three people press a button. Only one of the buttons works, so no one knows who actually fired the round. > > It’ll turn the condemned guy off like a lightswitch. That actually sounds like a good idea. Quick, painless (mostly), effective, cheap and still enough to scare off some bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/48 "2014-05-25T18:28:00Z")
How about an electronically-fired crossbow launching a scary sharp broadhead thru the chest and heart? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/49 "2014-05-25T20:38:06Z")
I don’t know about fully modernizing the electric chair but you could add some fun 1980s flair by plugging it into [The Clapper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCfQfh0KqVU). ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/50 "2014-05-25T20:47:50Z")
If you look at pictures over time with today, generally electric chairs have moved from the electrical equipment being huge fearsome looking oak cabinets with levers, dials, meters, and light bulbs to small, innocent looking metal electronic cabinets, usually requiring just a button push by anyone rather than a trained “electrician”. Sometimes there were several buttons with the warden wiring one up in secret, Tennessee’s was designed by Leuchter, of all people and has computer randomly select which button will be active. The chair itself still is stereotypically usually made of oak with leather straps (again TN has a more modern design with seatbelts), but has moved from on a platform on a concrete chamber with floodlights on the condemned into a generic room that could be a break room in an office. Compare Virginia’s old chamber at Richmond with the new one at Jarrett. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/51 "2014-05-25T21:46:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Seems to me that the real solution might be to obfuscate the state procurement process somehow, so that it’s not immediately clear that the drug is to be used in executions. Maybe by having all state purchases go through some central procurement office used for all teaching hospitals, free clinics and public hospitals in that state, or by buying it third-hand from some private pharmacy. This is actually what is going on. The states are ordering the drugs thru compounding pharmacies which are under very little control. (Ergo the [recent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Compounding_Center_meningitis_outbreak) spinal injection problem.) In order to protect their sources, these states have made it illegal to disclose the sources of their drugs. Strangely, courts have been fairly friendly to these laws. It would seem to me that the exact method of execution, including the details of what is being used, where it comes from, its purity, etc., would be a matter of public interest as well as to the legal team of the prisoner. OTOH, I don’t think Smith & Wesson would feel the least bit ashamed if their guns were used to take out a killer. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/52 "2014-05-26T03:41:35Z")
You could install software that detects if the condemned is sleeping, then the chair is activated once he dozes off. As long as he stays awake, the condemned stays alive, but the moment he nods off … BUZZ! To be reserved for egregious cases such as John Wayne Gacy. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/53 "2014-05-26T04:36:46Z")
How about instead of electric current or drugs, strap them to a board and dip them into a tank of liquid nitrogen head first. Once the body is suitably frozen, the head can be removed. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/54 "2014-05-26T04:55:26Z")
inert gas asphyxiation chamber. 🙂 (I always wanted an opportunity to put a smiley face after inner gas asphyxiation chamber.) Still, if we want a modern, humane method of putting someone to death, I can’t really think of anything better. > **[Inert gas asphyxiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation)** > > Inert gas asphyxiation is a form of asphyxiation which results from breathing a physiologically inert gas in the absence of oxygen, or a low amount of oxygen, rather than atmospheric air (which is composed largely of nitrogen and oxygen). Examples of physiologically inert gases, which have caused accidental or deliberate death by this mechanism, are argon, helium, nitrogen and methane. The term "physiologically inert" is used to indicate a gas which has no toxic or anesthetic properties and do Ac... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/55 "2014-05-26T05:30:18Z")
This thread got me to thinking, why electricity? You can read about it [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair#Early_development) Seems like it was a proof of concept thingy, AC being more lethal than DC, which we’re stuck with now. From site, "The first electric chair was produced by Harold P. Brown and Arthur Kennelly. Brown worked as an employee of Thomas Edison, hired for the purpose of researching electrocution and developing the electric chair. Kennelly, Edison’s chief engineer at the West Orange facility was assigned to work with Brown on the project. Since Brown and Kennelly worked for Edison and Edison promoted their work, the development of the electric chair is often erroneously credited to Edison himself. Brown intended to use alternating current (AC), then emerging as a potent rival to direct current (DC), which was further along in commercial development.The decision to use AC was partly driven by Edison’s claim that AC was more lethal than DC." ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/56 "2014-05-26T05:34:43Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The firing can be accomplished by remote control - three people press a button. Only one of the buttons works, so no one knows who actually fired the round. Why? If it’s perfectly legal, and in fact a good thing for the state to kill someone, why should it be useful to conceal who did the killing? In fact, why not have it be a requirement in state law that the button must be pushed by a current or past member of the Legislature who voted for the death penalty? or, a current or former governor who signed death penalty legislation? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/57 "2014-05-26T05:38:48Z")
I just clicked on “New Posts,” and this thread was right under “How electroconductive is semen?” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/58 "2014-05-26T05:41:26Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I just clicked on “New Posts,” and this thread was right under “How electroconductive is semen?” I guess if getting electrocuted gives you a boner, well yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/59 "2014-05-26T12:25:35Z")
Solar Panels on the roof? Rig him up at midnight, tell him he has 6 hours to speak is piece, but that he dies at sunrise. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152/60 "2014-05-26T13:37:32Z")
It’s kind of interesting how the word “electrocution”, being a portmanteau of “electric” and “execution”, has escaped the death chamber and has become the go to word for being shocked. Edison wanted the electric execution to be called being “Westinghoused”, to emphasize the dangers of AC current. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-might-the-electric-chair-be-modernized/689152.md?page=4)