Electric Chair
The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned prisoner is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and legs. Alfred P. Southwick, a dentist in Buffalo, New York, conceived this execution method in 1881. It was developed over the next decade as a more humane alternative to conventional executions, particularly hanging. First used in 1890, the electric chair has become a symbol of capital punishment in the United States.
The electric chair was once thought to cause death through cerebral damage, but it was scientifically established in 1899 that death primarily results from ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest. It became a common method of capital punishment in the United States and also extensively in the Philippines, but its use has substantially declined with the adoption of lethal injection which was perceived as more humane.
As of 2026, electrocution is a legal method of capital punishment in the following U.S. states:
Alabama: as a choice between the default lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, and electrocution (see Capital punishment in Alabama).
Florida: as a choice between the default lethal injection and electrocution (see Capital punishment in Florida).
Kentucky: only as a choice between the default lethal injection and electrocution for inmates sentenced before March 31, 1998, of which there are only fifteen remaining; or if lethal injection is found to be unconstitutional (see Capital punishment in Kentucky).
Louisiana: decided by the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections out of lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, and electrocution (see Capital punishment in Louisiana).
Mississippi: decided by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections out of the preferred lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, firing squad, and electrocution (see Capital punishment in Mississippi).
Oklahoma: to be used only as a method if prior methods in the order of the default lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, electrocution, and firing squad are unavailable or found to be unconstitutional (see Capital punishment in Oklahoma).
South Carolina: as the default method if lethal injection is unavailable, with firing squad only as a choice by the inmate (see Capital punishment in South Carolina).
Tennessee: as a choice between the default lethal injection and electrocution for inmates sentenced before January 1, 1999, or if lethal injection is unavailable or found to be unconstitutional (see Capital punishment in Tennessee).
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