# What skillz does one need to operate THE Electric Chair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781 "2010-12-30T02:18:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/41 "2011-01-05T13:16:50Z")
> [@ecco477](#): > > What’s with the “doper” stuff? I’ve seen this phrase many times on this board. Is that a popular phrase here? Is this person 87 years old? People aren’t called “dopers” any more. > > If you’re are going to ridicule, please do it properly. Say stoner, drunk, alkie, something. You sound dated and stoned yourself. > > Don’t be a square…update your vocab–there are sites. > > try [urbandictionary.com](http://urbandictionary.com)! Excuse me? A member of the Straight Dope Message Board is called a Doper. It’s nothing to do with drug slang; here, “straight dope” means “direct truth”. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/42 "2011-01-05T13:30:33Z")
> [@ecco477](#): > > What’s with the “doper” stuff? I’ve seen this phrase many times on this board. Is that a popular phrase here? Is this person 87 years old? People aren’t called “dopers” any more. > > If you’re are going to ridicule, please do it properly. Say stoner, drunk, alkie, something. You sound dated and stoned yourself. > > Don’t be a square…update your vocab–there are sites. > > try [urbandictionary.com](http://urbandictionary.com)! Far Out Man! I mean like sooo Radical! Wait …could this be Bogus?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/43 "2011-01-05T14:02:15Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > An odd thought popped into my head last night: > > What training or certification does someone need to become The Flip Switcher on the Electric Chair involved in Capital Punishment cases? > > Or is it done by drawing straws? Job Requirements: Ability to create spoonerisms - Check Experience working with excessive capital letters - Check Candidate must also show a tendancy for the substitution of “S” for “Z” - Check 😃 ---
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/44 "2011-01-05T14:37:53Z")
I do not think any one operating the electric chair has skills or knowledge of how AC current works. Just ask Mrs. Rosenberg. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/45 "2011-01-05T14:44:37Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > I do not think any one operating the electric chair has skills or knowledge of how AC current works. Just ask Mrs. Rosenberg. i think he would. The same jolt that kills a 110 pound woman might not kill a 350 pound man, and a jolt that would kill a 350 pound man might incinerate a 110 pound woman. I think there is more to it than just flipping a switch. ---
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/46 "2011-01-05T15:04:54Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > i think he would. The same jolt that kills a 110 pound woman might not kill a 350 pound man, and a jolt that would kill a 350 pound man might incinerate a 110 pound woman. I think there is more to it than just flipping a switch. The reason I mention Mrs. Rosenberg is that when Mr and Mrs. Rosenberg were executed for treason Mr. Rosenberg went first and was executed as planned. When it was Mrs. Rosenberg’s turn the same jolt that killed her husband DID NOT kill her. They had to give her “another dose” to finish the job. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/47 "2011-01-05T15:48:55Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > [Yes](http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/procedure_dec-1947.pdf), as it turns out. > > I’m still a little dubious of the “blank that’s indistinguishable from a live round” idea though. It’s true, apparently. > [@](#): > > Gardner wouldn’t have seen the law enforcement officers who volunteered to carry out the death sentence. He would have been bathed in light, while they remained hidden in darkness some 20 feet away. > > A target was placed over his heart and a hood over his head before the five men opened fire. > > He was pronounced dead at 0020 local time (0620 GMT). > > None of the firing squad will ever know for sure if he fired a lethal shot. One gun was loaded with a dummy - probably wax - bullet, which is said to deliver the same recoil as a live round. [How and why Gardner was shot](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10254279) ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/48 "2011-01-05T18:07:00Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Is there just one switch? If I were designing it, there would be 3 or more with a randomizing device so it would not be certain who threw the switch that actually mattered…sort of like loading one blank for the firing squad. IIRC, they do this for lethal injection: there are two switches, only one of which actually starts the chemicals from entering the IV. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/49 "2011-04-19T12:31:09Z")
I was going through the list pravnik linked, and found: [Joseph Malta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Malta). Hung 60 Nazis then returned to his former civilian job, a floor sander. Can you imagine asking this Grandpa what he did during World War II? For some reason, Aldo Raines comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/50 "2011-04-19T14:21:27Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > [Joseph Malta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Malta). Hung 60 Nazis then returned to his former civilian job, a floor sander. > > Can you imagine asking this Grandpa what he did during World War II? \ “I took out the trash.” (Puts on sunglasses). EEEEEYYYYEEEEAAAHHHHH!!! ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_X2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@Karen\_X2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_X2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/51 "2011-04-19T16:19:24Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Electric Chair training Course > Lesson 1 Off/On What is the difference? > Lesson 2 When should the switch be off? > Lesson 3 When should the switch be on? > End of course Training would have to be renewed yearly. All those qualified to do this must be current… ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/52 "2011-04-19T16:35:57Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I was going through the list pravnik linked, and found: > > [Joseph Malta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Malta). Hung 60 Nazis then returned to his former civilian job, a floor sander. > > Can you imagine asking this Grandpa what he did during World War II? > > For some reason, Aldo Raines comes to mind. There’s also [Albert Pierrepoint](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pierrepoint), who did more or less the same thing for the British, and who developed the variable drop method of hanging. This guy was really into his work, although the [movie about him](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierrepoint_%28film%29) shows him as conflicted, eventually resigning as the official hangman when he became convinced that capital punishment didn’t work as a deterrent. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/53 "2011-04-19T16:55:41Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Indeed, although the ‘art’ of the electric chair hasn’t advanced that much. To see how much, check out documentarian Errol Morris’ creepy biopic, _[Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192335/)_. The title character is an engineer who made himself into a noted authority (albeit one with questionable credentials) on execution equipment, first electric chairs and then lethal injection systems. He ultimately became entangled in Holocaust revisionism (more out of a seeming desire to be a celebrity than any latent anti-semitism) and was eventually utterly discredited, but his insight into the execution process is fascinating if somewhat disconcerting to listen to. > > Stranger That jackass had a ‘documentary’ on IIRC the history channel a few years ago. What a moron, and what a bunch of twaddle … most memorable was going around chipping samples of brick or stone in one of the gas chambers and chemically testing it and declaring there was no residue … I seem to remember in the pix from the liberation that the gas chamber was plastered, and all the plaster was spalled off or just removed, so unless the zyklon b could soak through plaster, no shit there wasnt residue after 60+ years of weathering. > [@EdwardLost](#): > > Warden: Your resume says your previous job was at the Humane Society, euthanizing animals. Why did you decide to apply for this job? > > Applicant: I wanted to work with people. \ ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/54 "2011-04-19T17:58:44Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > If you wanted to spend extra money, I suppose you could construct an apparatus to do this. Have 3 regular switches, only one of which actually controls a set of heavy-duty contactors that switch the current to the chair. Or you could even have the contactors remotely controlled over phone lines – then the Governor himself could ‘throw the switch’ from his office in the State Capitol. Guard 1: Think I’ll sit right here and take a res _bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz_ \ Governor: Alice! I think I just dialed a wrong number again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781.md?page=2)