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Death sentences are criminal penalties resulting in execution for committing capital crimes. They are carried out by electric chair, lethal injection, firearms, stoning, gas chamber, or hanging. Most countries no longer have this punishment, but some still issue it for certain crimes. The legal process for carrying out a death sentence is complex, and condemned men are offered one last meal before execution.
A death sentence is a criminal penalty that typically results in a person being executed as punishment for committing a capital crime. Death sentences are usually carried out by electric chair, lethal injection, or by being shot with one or more firearms. Most countries no longer have this type of punishment, although some countries still issue a death sentence for certain crimes, such as terrorism or serial murder.
Crimes leading to a death sentence vary by country and location. Most commonly, the death sentence is handed down for violent crimes, such as murder, terrorism, and aggravated sexual assault. Even these crimes often require special circumstances for a death sentence to be passed. For example, violent homicide, mass murder, and sexual assault of a minor are especially qualifying circumstances in some areas. In rare circumstances, nonviolent criminals are executed for drug offenses, fraud, or extortion by kidnapping.
One of the most common ways to carry out a death sentence is with firearms. This method is typically done with multiple simultaneous shots from several shooters, or a single shot to a vital area, often at close range. When the former method is used, often by military establishments, one of the main goals may be to anonymize the shooter so that no one knows for sure who actually killed the convict.
Other methods of execution include stoning, the gas chamber or hanging. Stoning is an ancient form of execution by torture practiced mainly in Islamic countries. Gas chambers, or airtight chambers filled with poisonous gas, are reportedly used in North Korea and were famously used by the Nazis during WWII. Finally, hanging is common in many countries, including India, Iraq and Japan.
The legal process for carrying out a death sentence is very complex in some countries. Criminals can wait 20 to 35 years before being executed. It is not unusual for older inmates to die of natural causes during this wait. The average time spent on “death row”, the special prison areas reserved for people with death sentences, varies but is usually more than a decade and less than two.
In many places it is traditional to offer condemned men one last meal before carrying out their execution. This special meal is usually of the sentenced person’s choice, but may be limited by cost or other measures. Items containing alcohol or tobacco are often rejected because they are believed to dull the pain of punishment. While the origins of the last meal tradition are inconclusive, it is often assumed that it is a ritualized demonstration of the condemned person’s acceptance of his or her fate.
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