Electrocution

A method of punishment of death inflicted by causing to pass through the body of the convicted person a current of electricity of sufficient force and continuance to cause death. See 1 Witth. & Beck. Med. Jur. 663. It was enacted in New York in 1888, in Ohio in 1896, and in Pennsylvania in 1913, and in one or two other states. Punishment by electrocution is not within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, which prohibits the infliction of unusual and cruel punishments; and while the infliction of the death penalty by a new agency is unusual, the adoption of such an agency which is not a certainly prolonged or extreme procedure is not violative of this constitutional provision; People v. Durston, 119 N. Y. 569, 24 N. E. 6, 7 L. R. A. 715, 16 Am. St. Rep. 859. This act of New York is not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States when applied to a convict who committed the crime after the act took effect; In re Kemmler, 136 U. S. 436, 10 Sup. Ct. 930, 34 L. Ed. 519. See Ex parte Mirzan, 119 U. S. 584, 7 Sup. Ct. 341, 30 L. Ed. 513.