# Why do some places still hang people but not decapitate them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599 "2012-04-02T17:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/1 "2012-04-02T17:01:22Z")
Reading [this Cecil article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3042/is-there-an-official-u-s-manual-on-how-to-conduct-a-hanging) brought to me something that’s always puzzled me. In the US, where executions are still legal, [a couple states](http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution) still have hangings as a method. But no state has decapitations. I’ve always thought that was weird, as whatever method of death you get from a hanging is quicker and more accurate with a decapitation. But I have a suspicion that all the crowing about it being inhumane is simply that its really really messy. I have an anecdote from 5-10 years ago, I don’t remember the state or the prison name, but there was a man on death row who weighed like 400+ pounds. He was scheduled to die by hanging, but successfully got his execution postponed because his lawyer argued that due to his weight, his head might pop off. My thinking is: “So what?”, but apparently some court agreed with him and he was kept alive for who knows how long. I find that odd, and stupid, as decapitation may be messy, but its surely a better measure of death than hanging, which may leave a person alive and strangling. I would rather have my head chopped off than hanged. Is there any reason why decapitation is considered cruel and unusual while hanging is not? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/2 "2012-04-02T17:11:51Z")
Did the US ever have an “off with their heads” method? To my recollection they did not have the means, either a guillotine or a big axe. Rope and a tree is available anywhere, and a lot easier. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/3 "2012-04-02T17:15:06Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I find that odd, and stupid, as decapitation may be messy, but its surely a better measure of death than hanging, which may leave a person alive and strangling. I would rather have my head chopped off than hanged. Is there any reason why decapitation is considered cruel and unusual while hanging is not? I suspect at least part of it is that it’s messier to cut someone’s head off than it is to hang them. There’s a lot of blood to clean up. That’s not just gross, but a biohazard, thanks to blood-borne diseases like AIDS and hepatitis B and C. Read that as “more expensive and dangerous to clean up”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/4 "2012-04-02T17:17:00Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Did the US ever have an “off with their heads” method? To my recollection they did not have the means, either a guillotine or a big axe. Rope and a tree is available anywhere, and a lot easier. Is your argument that the US had neither the means nor the technology to create a guillotine? Because I’m pretty sure that the lack of a functioning guillotine could have been solved very quickly and easily in any of the 50 states at any time after the 1780s. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/5 "2012-04-02T17:20:49Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I suspect at least part of it is that it’s messier to cut someone’s head off than it is to hang them. There’s a lot of blood to clean up. That’s not just gross, but a biohazard, thanks to blood-borne diseases like AIDS and hepatitis B and C. Read that as “more expensive and dangerous to clean up”. Just as a though experiment, would it possibly to superheat a blade enough to instantly cauterize? Or would the contact time simply be too short. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/6 "2012-04-02T17:24:36Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Is your argument that the US had neither the means nor the technology to create a guillotine? Because I’m pretty sure that the lack of a functioning guillotine could have been solved very quickly and easily in any of the 50 states at any time after the 1780s. What I meant was, when it came to choosing execution methods with no readily available guillotine… but there is rope and a trees aplenty… the rope got the job done faster. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/7 "2012-04-02T17:25:55Z")
Hanging was simple and easy and didn’t require any extra equipment. It also was the main method of execution in the UK at the time the US was founded. I can’t find an exact date, but it looks like they stopped using beheading by the beginning of the 18th century. So when the colonies broke off, hanging had been the accepted method of execution in the UK, and also in the colonies. It stayed that way until the electric chair and gas chamber were used as being more humane. There was no urge to go back to beheading, especially since the French Revolution gave it a bad reputation. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/8 "2012-04-02T17:28:09Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I suspect at least part of it is that it’s messier to cut someone’s head off than it is to hang them. There’s a lot of blood to clean up. That’s not just gross, but a biohazard, thanks to blood-borne diseases like AIDS and hepatitis B and C. Read that as “more expensive and dangerous to clean up”. Not that I’m an expert in hanging, but don’t people shit and vomit when hanged or electrocuted too? Obviously it would be messier to have a spray of blood everywhere, but it seems like it wouldn’t be that much more effort to keep some extra mops handy. Its not like we execute as many people as China to make a difference, right? ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/9 "2012-04-02T17:31:48Z")
In theory decapitation was an option in Utah from 1851 to 1888, but was never used. I think it’s just the yuck factor, not whether of not it’s cruel. Despite the association with the French, it was the Germans that really “perfected” beheading, their “Fallbeils” were typically in a tiled room positioned over a drain, with a water hose at ready. The Germans would string up people they wanted to make an example of, shoot spies, use various methods of mass murder and such but garden variety condemned criminals typically parted company with their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/10 "2012-04-02T17:33:20Z")
It is just one of those things based on tradition. Firing squads were or are legal in at least one state and were last used just a few years ago in the U.S. Electric chairs used to be used regularly in the U.S. as well and those are about as grisly as you can get especially if they don’t work quite right. Gas chambers were also popular at one time but they are a little Nazi-esque. Now it is almost always done by lethal injection. The end result is the same though and most of these methods were available concurrently. Hanging doesn’t always work right and it seems a little Old West style and also evokes lynchings. It seems to be mainly a style consideration even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense. It isn’t that hard to have just one very reliable way to execute someone but tastes and sensibilities differ. The guillotine was never adopted as a widespread execution technique in the U.S. probably because it is messy. France was all over guillotine executions at one time however. The last one was conducted in 1977 but it wasn’t outlawed as an execution method until 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/11 "2012-04-02T18:56:26Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Not that I’m an expert in hanging, but don’t people shit and vomit when hanged or electrocuted too? [Vomit, urine, and feces do not transmit HIV. Blood does.](http://www.everydayhealth.com/hiv-aids/protect-yourself-as-hiv-caregiver.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/12 "2012-04-02T19:21:22Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I have an anecdote from 5-10 years ago, I don’t remember the state or the prison name, but there was a man on death row who weighed like 400+ pounds. He was scheduled to die by hanging, but successfully got his execution postponed because his lawyer argued that due to his weight, his head might pop off. My thinking is: “So what?”, but apparently some court agreed with him and he was kept alive for who knows how long. Mid 1990’s Washington State the inmate was a guy named Rupe (same name as my 6th grade teacher) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/13 "2012-04-03T07:00:30Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Not that I’m an expert in hanging, but don’t people shit and vomit when hanged or electrocuted too? Not vomit. Not with a noose tight around your neck. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/14 "2012-04-03T07:33:19Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I find that odd, and stupid, as decapitation may be messy, but its surely a better measure of death than hanging, which may leave a person alive and strangling. I would rather have my head chopped off than hanged. Properly done - English-style - hanging (appropriate rope, knot and drop) results in instant death from one’s neck breaking, not strangulation. It is quick, clean and humane. Decapitation can be protracted and cruel, just like a lousy hanging job. For instance, the last person beheaded in Scandinavia, in the 1850’s (IIRC), needed several hits with an axe for her head to come off. Granted, she may have been dead before the final blow. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/15 "2012-04-03T08:16:58Z")
I thought, as Toxylon said, execution by hanging involves dropping and suddenly stopping, which is meant to break the neck and cause unconsciousness immediately. This is more humane than beheading. I don’t think hanging is meant to cause death by strangulation, at least not those in prisons. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/16 "2012-04-03T08:17:13Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Just as a though experiment, would it possibly to superheat a blade enough to instantly cauterize? Or would the contact time simply be too short. It’s not a case of contact time. It’s that you can’t cauterise large arteries. The damn things are under considerable pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/17 "2012-04-03T08:51:36Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Decapitation can be protracted and cruel, just like a lousy hanging job. For instance, the last person beheaded in Scandinavia, in the 1850’s (IIRC), needed several hits with an axe for her head to come off. Granted, she may have been dead before the final blow. It was the [last execution of a woman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_M%C3%A5nsdotter) in Sweden (can’t speak for the other Scandinavian countries) and it took place in 1890. The [last execution at all](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Ander) in Sweden was carried out with a guillotine. As it happens it was [the same executioner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Gustaf_Dahlman) in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/18 "2012-04-03T08:57:47Z")
Hanging was the standard in Great Britain at the time of American independence, and had been for a long time. Beheading - regarded as more merciful and less undignified - was reserved for the nobility. It had pretty much fallen out of use in Britain even for the nobility, and the newly-democratic and enlightened US wasn’t about to revive it. Modern hanging is (mostly) quick and clinical, but it wasn’t reliably so at the time of American independence, or for quite a while afterwards. I think when the Americans wanted somethign less squicky than slow strangulation they went for shooting or, in time, electrocution. A revival of beheading was never really on the cards. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-places-still-hang-people-but-not-decapitate-them/617599/19 "2012-04-03T09:08:12Z")
I’ve always imagined the sufferings of the dying to be unimportant, at least as long as they last no more than a few minutes. I think a bigger concern may be the _living_, e.g. relatives of the condemned. Desecration of the corpse is rightly forbidden; wouldn’t many regard decapitation as a sacrilege?