Editing Electric chair (section)

==Controversies and criticisms==
===Possibility of consciousness and pain during execution===
Critics of the electric chair dispute whether the first jolt of electricity reliably induces immediate unconsciousness as proponents often claim.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nugent |first=Philip |date=May 1993 |title=Pulling the Plug on the Electric Chair: The Unconstitutionality of Electrocution |url=https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol2/iss1/8/ |journal=William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=185 |access-date=2 December 2021 |quote="[M]any medical experts throughout this century have noted the unpredictability of electricity's effect on the human body and the inability to ascertain exactly when consciousness is lost and when death takes place. "[T]he space of time before death supervenes varies according to the subject. Some have a greater physiological resistance than others." Over sixty years ago [as of 1993], a prominent physician, contradicting assertions that the initial shock of electricity leaves the victim "brain dead," observed that "[t]he brain has four parts. The current may touch only one of those four parts, so that the individual retains consciousness and a keen sense of agony. For the sufferer, time stands still; and this excruciating torture seems to last for an eternity." […] In order for consciousness to be lost, or nerve activity destroyed, the electrical current would have to penetrate the brain. However, during an electrocution, the condemned's brain is "incapacitated through [the] relatively slow process of heating up by the passage of electricity through the body. In short, the brain literally cooks until death occurs."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Florida's Messy Executions Put the Electric Chair on Trial (Published 1999) |first=Rick |last=Bragg |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 November 1999 |access-date=2 December 2021 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/18/us/florida-s-messy-executions-put-the-electric-chair-on-trial.html |quote=Once considered a humane alternative to hanging and the firing squad, electrocution is now seen by many people in Florida as the preferred way of exacting justice for a much different reason: because it poses the possibility of pain. }}</ref>

===Botched executions===
The electric chair has been criticized because of several instances in which the subjects were killed only after being subjected to multiple [[electric shocks]]. This led to a call for ending of the practice, as being a "[[cruel and unusual punishment]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/chair.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202095956/http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/chair.htm |archive-date=2008-02-02 |title=The Shocking Truth About Death in the Electric Chair}}</ref> Trying to address such concerns, Nebraska introduced a new electrocution protocol in 2004, which called for the administration of a 15-second application of current at 2,450 volts; after a 15-minute wait, an official then checks for signs of life. In April 2007, new concerns raised regarding the 2004 protocol resulted in the ushering in of a different Nebraska protocol, calling for a 20-second application of current at 2,450 volts. Prior to the 2004 protocol change, an initial eight-second application of current at 2,450 volts was administered, followed by a one-second pause, then a 22-second application at 480 volts. After a 20-second break, the cycle was repeated three more times.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In 1946, the electric chair failed to kill [[Willie Francis]], who reportedly shrieked, "Take it off! Let me breathe!", after the current was applied. It turned out that the portable electric chair had been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801376.html|title=Gilbert King – The Two Executions Of Willie Francis|first=Gilbert|last=King|date=July 19, 2006|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> A case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court ''([[Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber]])'',<ref>U.S. Supreme Court case, Francis v. Resweber: {{ussc|329|459|1947}}</ref> with lawyers for the condemned arguing that although Francis did not die, he had, in fact, been executed. The argument was rejected on the basis that re-execution did not violate the [[double jeopardy]] clause of the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution, and Francis was returned to the electric chair and executed in 1947.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459 (1947) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/329/459/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Justia}}</ref>

Florida saw three highly controversial botched electrocutions in the 1990s, starting with the 1990 execution of [[Jesse Tafero]]. His case generated significant controversy, as with the first administration of electricity, Tafero's face and head caught fire. Tafero's execution ultimately required three shocks over the course of seven minutes. The error was blamed on prison officials replacing Florida's old natural sea sponge with a kitchen sponge.<ref>{{citation |last=Mcgarrahan |first=Ellen |title='Exonerated' blurs facts about death penalty case |date=December 7, 2003 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Exonerated-blurs-facts-about-death-penalty-case-2509199.php |work=The San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> The 1997 execution of [[Pedro Medina (murderer)|Pedro Medina]] in Florida created controversy when flames burst from his head. An autopsy found that Medina had died instantly when the first surge of electricity had destroyed his brain and brain stem. A judge ruled that the incident arose from "unintentional human error" rather than any faults in the "apparatus, equipment, and electrical circuitry" of Florida's electric chair.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuntz |first=Tom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/03/weekinreview/tightening-the-nuts-and-bolts-of-death-by-electric-chair.html |title=Tightening the Nuts and Bolts Of Death by Electric Chair|date=August 3, 1997 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 8, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In Florida, on July 8, 1999, [[Allen Lee Davis]], convicted of murder, was executed in the Florida electric chair "[[Old Sparky#Florida|Old Sparky]]". Davis' face was bloodied, and photographs were taken, which were later posted on the Internet. An investigation concluded that Davis had begun bleeding before the electricity was applied and that the chair had functioned as intended. Florida's Supreme Court ruled that the electric chair did not constitute "cruel and unusual punishment".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/deathrow/drorder.html |title=Order Upholding Constitutionality of the Electric Chair |date=August 3, 1999 |website=dc.state.fl.us |access-date=2014-04-17 |archive-date=2014-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404155534/http://www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/deathrow/drorder.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>