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| '''Hanging''' is a form of ] or a method |
'''Hanging''' is a form of ] or a method of committing ]. It has been used throughout history as a form of capital punishment, first by the ], and is still used in some countries. There are four methods of hanging — the long, short and standard drops, as well as suspension hanging. | ||
| :* the ''long drop'' | |||
| :* the ''short drop'' | |||
| :* the ''standard drop'' | |||
| :* ''suspension hanging'' | |||
| The typical sentence involving hanging is that the condemned person "be hanged by the neck until dead". A more elaborate sentence, once used for particularly heinous crimes such as ] in England, was for the person to be ] — here the victim was saved from asphyxiation in order to endure the further ordeals. | |||
| A long-drop hanging may break the ] (]) causing traumatic ] and consequent ] and ]. | |||
| ==History of hanging as a punishment== | |||
| A long-drop, short-drop, standard-drop or suspension hanging may do one or more of the following: | |||
| Hanging has historically been the method of execution used for common ]s; in ] England, for example, ]s were usually hanged for crimes, while the ] were usually ]. Since as a result hanging has become associated with dishonorable execution, the courts in the post-] which presided over trials for ]s in ] and ], such as the ] mandated its use for ]s rather than ]. | |||
| Extra-legal primitive forms of hanging persisted well into the ] in the ] in the form of ]s, where ] or mutilation of the corpse often accompanied the hanging. Hanging is commonly the method of executing penalties of death in ] countries that still have it, such as ] and ]. | |||
| ==Medical effects== | |||
| The cause of death in hanging depends on the conditions related to the event. When the body is released from a relatively high position, death is usually caused by severing the spinal cord between C1 and C2, which is effectively decapitation. This frequently occurs in judicial hangings. In the rest of instances spinal cord damage may have a role but the main reason is obstruction of venous drainage of the brain via occlusion of the internal jugular veins, which leads to cerebral oedema and then cerebral ischemia. Other processes that have being linked to contribute are, vagal collapse, via mechanical stimulation of the carotid sinus and compromise of the cerebral blood flow by obstruction of the carotid arteries, even though their obstruction requires far more force than the obstruction of jugular veins, since they are seated deeper and they contain blood in much higher pressure compared to the jugular veins. Contrary to the common notion, airway compromise is not regarded a leading cause of death in hanging. Forensic experts can tell if hanging is suicide or homicide, as each leaves a distinctive ligature mark. One of the hints they use is the ], that, if broken, often means the person has been ]ed, by manual ]. Also, there have been cases of ] leading to death; recently, children have accidentally died playing the ]. | |||
| A long-drop hanging may break the ] (]) causing traumatic ] and consequent ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/hanging2.html#causes | title=How hanging causes death | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref> | |||
| A hanging may cause one or more of the following medical conditions: | |||
| * Close the ] causing ] or ''anesthesiologination'' | * Close the ] causing ] or ''anesthesiologination'' | ||
| * Close the ] | * Close the ] | ||
| Line 16: | Line 22: | ||
| * Induce carotid reflex, which reduces heartbeat when the pressure in the ] is high, causing ] | * Induce carotid reflex, which reduces heartbeat when the pressure in the ] is high, causing ] | ||
| ==Hanging by country== | |||
| In the ] the short-drop method was used until the ], when the long drop was introduced. The short drop could be a protracted affair and was primarily for the entertainment of the watching public, the struggling of the victim giving rise to such terms as "the hangman's ]". | |||
| === Britain === | |||
| ], 1436-1438]] | |||
| == History == | |||
| {{main|Capital punishment in the United Kingdom}} | |||
| Hanging has been used as punishment throughout history; it is known to have been invented and used by the ]. The typical sentence involving hanging is that the condemned person "be hanged by the neck until dead". A more elaborate sentence, once used for particularly heinous crimes such as ] in England, was for the person to be ] – here the victim was saved from asphyxiation in order to endure the further ordeals. | |||
| Hanging has historically been the method of execution used for common ]s; in ] England, for example, ]s were usually hanged for crimes, while the ] were usually ]. Since as a result hanging has become associated with dishonorable execution, the courts in the post-] which presided over trials for ]s in ] and ], such as the ] mandated its use for ]s rather than ]. | |||
| As a form of ] execution in ], hanging is thought to date from the ] period, approximately around ]. Records of the names of British ] begin with ] in the ]; complete records extend from the ] to the last hangmen, ] and ], who conducted the last British executions in ]. | As a form of ] execution in ], hanging is thought to date from the ] period, approximately around ]. Records of the names of British ] begin with ] in the ]; complete records extend from the ] to the last hangmen, ] and ], who conducted the last British executions in ]. | ||
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| Although hangmen had introduced the "drop" by the late ], it was initially only a substitute for the ladder or the cart. The first well-known practitioner of "the drop" was ]. His successor however, ], who was often quoted as saying "Calcraft ''hanged'' them, I ''execute'' them", introduced the "long drop". Marwood realised that each person required a different drop, based on the prisoner's weight, which would ] the ] ] resulting in "instantaneous" death. | Although hangmen had introduced the "drop" by the late ], it was initially only a substitute for the ladder or the cart. The first well-known practitioner of "the drop" was ]. His successor however, ], who was often quoted as saying "Calcraft ''hanged'' them, I ''execute'' them", introduced the "long drop". Marwood realised that each person required a different drop, based on the prisoner's weight, which would ] the ] ] resulting in "instantaneous" death. | ||
| ], 1436-1438]] | |||
| A process of sometimes grisly experimentation led to the discovery that an energy of 1260 ]s (1710 ]s) would have the desired effect, so one could calculate the required drop by dividing 1260 by the weight of the victim: a person weighing 112 pounds (50.8 kg) required a drop of 11'4" (3.43 m). Over time, Marwood refined this basic formula to take account of the prisoner's age, stature, and physical condition, especially after some early mistakes when too great a drop resulted in ]. Marwood also experimented with the positioning of the knot, and discovered that placing it under the left ear or under the angle of the left jaw would jerk the head backwards at the end of the drop and instantly sever the ] and dislocate the ]. ]s and staff who were required, following the abolition of ]s in ], to witness executions at close quarters, welcomed the development of swift and "clean" methods of hanging. | A process of sometimes grisly experimentation led to the discovery that an energy of 1260 ]s (1710 ]s) would have the desired effect, so one could calculate the required drop by dividing 1260 by the weight of the victim: a person weighing 112 pounds (50.8 kg) required a drop of 11'4" (3.43 m). Over time, Marwood refined this basic formula to take account of the prisoner's age, stature, and physical condition, especially after some early mistakes when too great a drop resulted in ]. Marwood also experimented with the positioning of the knot, and discovered that placing it under the left ear or under the angle of the left jaw would jerk the head backwards at the end of the drop and instantly sever the ] and dislocate the ]. ]s and staff who were required, following the abolition of ]s in ], to witness executions at close quarters, welcomed the development of swift and "clean" methods of hanging. | ||
| Until ] the law in Britain offered the death penalty for some 200 offenses, including attempting ], being in the company of ] for one month, ] (for ]s and ]s), and "strong evidence of ]" in children aged 7–14 years old. | |||
| As time went by, hanging became more of a science than an art. By the mid-] the average time between taking a victim from the cell and death was around fifteen seconds – although on ], ] ] conducted the fastest hanging on record when ], whom a court had only three weeks earlier convicted and sentenced for the murder of a ], fell through the trap only seven seconds after leaving his cell. | |||
| A variety of loopholes in British criminal law, together with judicial leniency, tempered the law's tendency to prescribe hanging for what many would today consider minor offences. First-time offenders could escape a capital sentence for some crimes through the ], and of those criminals actually sentenced to death, many were later ]ed. Only about half the death sentences pronounced at common law in the ] were carried out, and by the beginning of the 19th century, growing doubt over the appropriateness of capital punishment led to nearly 90% of British capital sentences being commuted to lesser punishments. | |||
| Extra-legal primitive forms of hanging persisted well into the ] in the ] in the form of ]s, where ] or mutilation of the corpse often accompanied the hanging. | |||
| Between ] and ] ] abolished the death penalty for ] goods worth five shillings (£0.25) or less, returning from ], ], and ]; in ], the number of ]s was reduced to four — ], ], ] in ], and ] with violence. ]s were stopped in ] and the hanging, ] and quartering of traitors was formally abolished in ]. | |||
| ==Mechanism of action== | |||
| The cause of death in hanging depends on the conditions related to the event. When the body is released from a relatively high position, death is usually caused by severing the spinal cord between C1 and C2, which is effectively decapitation. This frequently occurs in judicial hangings. In the rest of instances spinal cord damage may have a role but the main reason is obstruction of venous drainage of the brain via occlusion of the internal jugular veins, which leads to cerebral oedema and then cerebral ischemia. Other processes that have being linked to contribute are, vagal collapse, via mechanical stimulation of the carotid sinus and compromise of the cerebral blood flow by obstruction of the carotid arteries, even though their obstruction requires far more force than the obstruction of jugular veins, since they are seated deeper and they contain blood in much higher pressure compared to the jugular veins. Contrary to the common notion, airway compromise is not regarded a leading cause of death in hanging. Forensic experts can tell if hanging is suicide or homicide, as each leaves a distinctive ligature mark. One of the hints they use is the ], that, if broken, often means the person has been ]ed, by manual ]. Also, there have been cases of ] leading to death; recently, children have accidentally died playing the ]. | |||
| As time went by, hanging became more of a science than an art. By the mid-] the average time between taking a victim from the cell and death was around fifteen seconds — although on ], ] ] conducted the fastest hanging on record when ], whom a court had only three weeks earlier convicted and sentenced for the murder of a ], fell through the trap only seven seconds after leaving his cell. | |||
| ==Hanging by country== | |||
| === Britain === | |||
| {{main|Capital punishment in the United Kingdom}} | |||
| Until ] the law in Britain offered the death penalty for some 200 offenses, including: | |||
| * Attempting ] | |||
| * Being in the company of ] for one month | |||
| * ] for ]s and ]s | |||
| * "Strong evidence of ]" in children aged 7–14 years old | |||
| In 1965 Parliament passed the "Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act" abolishing capital punishment for murder. And with the introduction of the Human Rights Act in 1998, the death penalty was officially abolished for all crimes in both civilian and military cases. | |||
| A variety of loopholes in British criminal law, together with judicial leniency, tempered the law's tendency to prescribe hanging for what many would today consider minor offences. First-time offenders could escape a capital sentence for some crimes through the ], and of those criminals actually sentenced to death, many were later ]ed. Only about half the death sentences pronounced at common law in the ] were carried out, and by the beginning of the 19th century, growing doubt over the appropriateness of capital punishment led to nearly 90% of British capital sentences being commuted to lesser punishments. | |||
| === The United States === | |||
| Between ] and ] ] abolished the death penalty for: | |||
| {{main articles|], ], and ]}} | |||
| * ] goods worth five shillings (£0.25) or less | |||
| * Returning from ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| In the ] the short-drop method was used until the ], when the long drop was introduced. The short drop could be a protracted affair and was primarily for the entertainment of the watching public, the struggling of the victim giving rise to such terms as "the hangman's ]". Since then, other forms of capital punishment, such as the ] and more recently ], have largely replaced hanging. | |||
| In ], Parliament reduced the number of ]s to four: | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] in ] | |||
| * ] with violence | |||
| At present, only ] and ] still retain hanging as an option. Laws were changed in ] to specify that penalties of death must be executed by injection unless the convict chooses hanging, but no hangings have taken place ever since. In New Hampshire if it found "... to be impractical to carry out the punishment of death ..." by lethal injection, then the condemned will be hanged.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/lxii/630/630-5.htm | title=Section 630.5, Procedures in Capital Murder | accessdate=2006-04-27 }}</ref> In Washington, the default method is lethal injection, though the condemned can choose hanging.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?section=10.95.180&fuseaction=section | title=RCW 10.95.180: Death penalty—How executed}}</ref> | |||
| Britain ended ]s in ] and formally abolished the hanging, ] and quartering of traitors in ]. | |||
| ] and ] ] chose it over injection in 1992. (See the book ''Driven to Kill''.) ] was another person hanged in the same State on ] ]. The last person hanged in the United States was ], on ] ] in ], and later the state abolished it. | |||
| In 1965 Parliament passed the 'Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act' abolishing capital punishment for murder. And with the introduction of the Human Rights Act in 1998, the death penalty was officially abolished for all crimes in both civilian and military cases. | |||
| === |
=== Other countries === | ||
| In the ], the last persons to be sentenced to death by hanging were ] and 11 other officers of his army on ], ]. | In the ], the last persons to be sentenced to death by hanging were ] and 11 other officers of his army on ], ]. | ||
| In ], a hanging procedure uses an automotive telescoping ] to hoist the condemned aloft. This method may have been adapted from yardarm hangings carried out by the Royal Navy. | |||
| === Iran === | |||
| One of the hanging execution procedures currently used in Iran does not use a drop, but involves using an automotive telescoping crane to hoist the condemned aloft. This method may have been adapted from yardarm hangings carried out by the Royal Navy. | |||
| A recent hanging carried out by this method in Iran was that of a 16 year old girl, ], who was hanged in August 2004 for sexual misdemeanours. The conduct of her case and her actual execution were very controversial internationally. | |||
| === The United States === | |||
| {{main articles|], ], and ]}} | |||
| In the ], other forms of capital punishment, such as the ] and more recently ], have largely replaced hanging. | |||
| At present, only ] and ] still retain hanging as an option. Laws changed in ] that penalties of death must be executed by injection unless the convict chooses hanging, but none has taken place ever since. In New Hampshire if it found "... to be impractical to carry out the punishment of death ..." by lethal injection, then the condemned will be hanged. In Washington, the default method is lethal injection, though the condemned can choose hanging. | |||
| ] and ] ] chose it over injection in 1992. (See the book ''Driven to Kill''.) ] was another person hanged in the same State on ] ]. The last person hanged in the United States was ], on ] ] in ], and later the same state abolished this practice. | |||
| ===Singapore=== | |||
| <!---Do not add material to this section that does relate specifically to the application of hanging in Singapore. This section is not designed for commentary and criticism of capital punishment in Singapore in general. Please discuss on the talk page http://en.wikipedia.org/Talk:Hanging#Singapore --> | <!---Do not add material to this section that does relate specifically to the application of hanging in Singapore. This section is not designed for commentary and criticism of capital punishment in Singapore in general. Please discuss on the talk page http://en.wikipedia.org/Talk:Hanging#Singapore --> | ||
| In ], ] hanging using the long-drop method is currently used as punishment for various crimes, such as drug trafficking, kidnapping and unauthorised possession of firearms. There is little evidence for a change in this policy <ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.suntimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket7st/basket7st1132576915.aspx | title=Singapore clings to death penalty | publisher=Sunday Times (South Africa) | date=] | accessdate=2006-04-02}}</ref>, and an artwork commenting on it was modified in the name of self-]. <ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/nguyens-dawn-walk-to-the-gallows/2005/11/26/1132966002571.html | title=Nguyen's dawn walk to the gallows | publisher=] | date=2005-11-27 | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1517960.htm | title=Artist's protest against death penalty silenced by Singapore censorship | publisher=] | date=] | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref> | |||
| {{main|Capital punishment in Singapore}} | |||
| ] currently employs ] execution as punishment for various crimes, such as for example, drug trafficking over certain quantities. The only execution method currently employed is via hanging using the long-drop method. There is little evidence for a change in policy such as the adoption of ], with the Singapore ] ] informing the ] that the ] "had previously studied the different methods of execution and found no reason to change from the current method used, that is, by hanging". | |||
| == Recent hangings == | == Recent hangings == | ||
| ] on the scaffold. (Mashhad, ], ]) |
] on the scaffold. (Mashhad, ], ]).]] | ||
| Hanging is commonly the method of executing penalties of death in ] countries that still have it, such as in the cases of ] and ]. | |||
| A recent case of ] by hanging is that of ], who was convicted of the ] murder and rape of a 14 year old girl in ] |
A recent case of ] by hanging is that of ], who was convicted of the ] murder and rape of a 14 year old girl in ] in ]. Although the ] has suggested that capital punishment be given in the rarest of rare cases, Chatterjee was executed on ] ] in the first execution in ] for eleven years. | ||
| On ] ] the mastermind of the ], ], was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Hanging is the common method of execution in capital punishment cases in ], although the punishment is rarely executed. | On ] ] the mastermind of the ], ], was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Hanging is the common method of execution in capital punishment cases in ], although the punishment is rarely executed. | ||
| On ] ], two |
A 16-year old girl, ], was hanged in August 2004 in Iran for sexual misdemeanours. On ] ], two Iranian boys, ], were publicly hanged at Edalat (Justice) Square in ], northeast Iran, on charges of ] and ]. At the ages of 15 and 17, respectively, they were discovered to be having sexual relations, imprisoned for fourteen months and subjected to 228 lashes each, then executed. {{cite web| url=http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2005/07/iran_executes_2.html | title=Iran executes 2 gay teenagers | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/detail.php?ID=1596 | title=Exclusive interview with gay activists in Iran on situation of gays, recent executions of gay teens and the future | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref> | ||
| In ], a 25-year old Australian, ], was hanged on ], ] after being convicted of drug trafficking in 2002. Numerous efforts from both the Australian government, numerous QCs (Queens Counsels) and countless petitions from organisations such as ] failed. | In ], a 25-year old Australian, ], was hanged on ], ] after being convicted of drug trafficking in 2002. Numerous efforts from both the Australian government, numerous QCs (Queens Counsels) and countless petitions from organisations such as ] failed. | ||
| On ] ], an official of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council |
On ] ], an official of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that Iraqi authorities executed 13 ]s by hanging, the first official executions of insurgents carried out in the country since the restoration of the death penalty in 2004. <ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=266369&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/ | title=More bombs bring death to Iraq | publisher=Mail & Guardian Online | date=2006-03-10 | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref> | ||
| In USA ] a former death row inmate once found too heavy to hang, died at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla following a long illness. He was 51. | |||
| Juries twice sentenced him to death, but higher courts overturned the sentences. | |||
| In 1994, a federal judge upheld his conviction but agreed with Rupe's contention that at 400 pounds, he was too heavy to hang because of the risk of decapitation. Rupe argued that would be cruel and unusual punishment. | |||
| At the time, Washington's only manner of execution was hanging. The main method now is lethal injection. | |||
| == Grammar == | == Grammar == | ||
| {{wiktionary}} | |||
| The term "hanging" is the focus of a famous bit of ] trivia. Traditionally, the past tense and past participle of the verb "to hang" are "hung" when referring to the abstract idea of hanging things, but "hanged" when referring to an execution or death by hanging. | |||
| ] | |||
| The term "hanging" is the focus of a famous bit of ] trivia. Traditionally, the past tense and past participle of the verb "to hang" are "hung" when referring to the abstract idea of hanging things, but "hanged" when referring to an execution or death by hanging.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://trackerpress.com/pdf/Page_60.pdf | format=PDF | title=Word usage: Hanged or hung? | accessdate=2006-04-27}}</ref> | |||
| A useful way of remembering this is the old school saying, "Meat is hung, men are hanged.' | A useful way of remembering this is the old school saying, "Meat is hung, men are hanged.' | ||
| The distinction is not always followed; but in cases where it is not, such as when |
The distinction is not always followed; but in cases where it is not, such as when Professor Higgins sings in the song "Why Can't the English?" from the ] ], | ||
| <blockquote> | |||
| ''By rights she should be taken out and hung'' | |||
| ''For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue'' | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| the choice often appears to have been made to suit the rhyme and meter. (Professor Higgins is a ], so there may also be an element of intentional irony in his phrasing.) | the choice often appears to have been made to suit the rhyme and meter. (Professor Higgins is a ], so there may also be an element of intentional irony in his phrasing.) | ||
| == References == | |||
| ] | |||
| <div style="font-size:90%"> | |||
| <references/> | |||
| == Folklore == | |||
| </div> | |||
| A common legend holds that if the rope used to hang a person breaks three times, it is a sign of ] and the condemned should be released. | |||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| Line 135: | Line 105: | ||
| == External links == | == External links == | ||
| * — contains a lot of information about hangings |
* — contains a lot of information about hangings | ||
| * |
* &,dash; provides mathematical formulas for determining the proper "drop" height of a condemned criminal | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
Revision as of 12:11, 27 April 2006
Hanging is a form of execution or a method of committing suicide. It has been used throughout history as a form of capital punishment, first by the Persian Empire, and is still used in some countries. There are four methods of hanging — the long, short and standard drops, as well as suspension hanging.
The typical sentence involving hanging is that the condemned person "be hanged by the neck until dead". A more elaborate sentence, once used for particularly heinous crimes such as high treason in England, was for the person to be hanged, drawn and quartered — here the victim was saved from asphyxiation in order to endure the further ordeals.
History of hanging as a punishment
Hanging has historically been the method of execution used for common criminals; in feudal England, for example, peasants were usually hanged for crimes, while the nobility were usually beheaded. Since as a result hanging has become associated with dishonorable execution, the courts in the post-World War II which presided over trials for war crimes in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, such as the Nuremberg Trials mandated its use for war criminals rather than execution by firing squad.
Extra-legal primitive forms of hanging persisted well into the 20th century in the United States in the form of lynchings, where torture or mutilation of the corpse often accompanied the hanging. Hanging is commonly the method of executing penalties of death in Commonwealth countries that still have it, such as Malaysia and Singapore.
Medical effects
The cause of death in hanging depends on the conditions related to the event. When the body is released from a relatively high position, death is usually caused by severing the spinal cord between C1 and C2, which is effectively decapitation. This frequently occurs in judicial hangings. In the rest of instances spinal cord damage may have a role but the main reason is obstruction of venous drainage of the brain via occlusion of the internal jugular veins, which leads to cerebral oedema and then cerebral ischemia. Other processes that have being linked to contribute are, vagal collapse, via mechanical stimulation of the carotid sinus and compromise of the cerebral blood flow by obstruction of the carotid arteries, even though their obstruction requires far more force than the obstruction of jugular veins, since they are seated deeper and they contain blood in much higher pressure compared to the jugular veins. Contrary to the common notion, airway compromise is not regarded a leading cause of death in hanging. Forensic experts can tell if hanging is suicide or homicide, as each leaves a distinctive ligature mark. One of the hints they use is the hyoid bone, that, if broken, often means the person has been murdered, by manual choking. Also, there have been cases of autoerotic asphyxiation leading to death; recently, children have accidentally died playing the choking game.
A long-drop hanging may break the neck (cervical fracture) causing traumatic spinal cord injury and consequent asphyxia and brain hypoxia.
A hanging may cause one or more of the following medical conditions:
- Close the airway causing asphyxia or anesthesiologination
- Close the carotid arteries
- Close the jugular veins
- Induce carotid reflex, which reduces heartbeat when the pressure in the carotid arteries is high, causing cardiac arrest
Hanging by country
Britain
As a form of judicial execution in England, hanging is thought to date from the Saxon period, approximately around 400. Records of the names of British hangmen begin with Thomas de Warblynton in the 1360s; complete records extend from the 1500s to the last hangmen, Robert Leslie Stewart and Harry Allen, who conducted the last British executions in 1964.
Early methods of hanging simply involved a hangman's noose on a rope placed around the victim's neck, with the loose end thrown over or tied to a tree branch; the hangman then drew up the criminal, who was slowly strangled. An early refinement had the victim climb a ladder or stand in a cart that the hangman then removed. As the number of executions increased, purpose-built gallows, which usually consisted of two posts joined by a crossbeam, replaced trees. Soon virtually every major town and city in Britain had its own gallows.
Although hangmen had introduced the "drop" by the late 1700s, it was initially only a substitute for the ladder or the cart. The first well-known practitioner of "the drop" was William Calcraft. His successor however, William Marwood, who was often quoted as saying "Calcraft hanged them, I execute them", introduced the "long drop". Marwood realised that each person required a different drop, based on the prisoner's weight, which would dislocate the cervical vertebrae resulting in "instantaneous" death.
A process of sometimes grisly experimentation led to the discovery that an energy of 1260 foot pounds (1710 joules) would have the desired effect, so one could calculate the required drop by dividing 1260 by the weight of the victim: a person weighing 112 pounds (50.8 kg) required a drop of 11'4" (3.43 m). Over time, Marwood refined this basic formula to take account of the prisoner's age, stature, and physical condition, especially after some early mistakes when too great a drop resulted in decapitation. Marwood also experimented with the positioning of the knot, and discovered that placing it under the left ear or under the angle of the left jaw would jerk the head backwards at the end of the drop and instantly sever the spinal cord and dislocate the cervical vertebrae. Prison governors and staff who were required, following the abolition of public executions in 1868, to witness executions at close quarters, welcomed the development of swift and "clean" methods of hanging.
Until 1808 the law in Britain offered the death penalty for some 200 offenses, including attempting suicide, being in the company of gypsies for one month, vagrancy (for soldiers and sailors), and "strong evidence of malice" in children aged 7–14 years old.
A variety of loopholes in British criminal law, together with judicial leniency, tempered the law's tendency to prescribe hanging for what many would today consider minor offences. First-time offenders could escape a capital sentence for some crimes through the benefit of clergy, and of those criminals actually sentenced to death, many were later pardoned. Only about half the death sentences pronounced at common law in the 18th century were carried out, and by the beginning of the 19th century, growing doubt over the appropriateness of capital punishment led to nearly 90% of British capital sentences being commuted to lesser punishments.
Between 1832 and 1834 Parliament abolished the death penalty for shoplifting goods worth five shillings (£0.25) or less, returning from transportation, letter-stealing, and sacrilege; in 1861, the number of capital crimes was reduced to four — murder, treason, arson in Royal Dockyards, and piracy with violence. Public hangings were stopped in 1868 and the hanging, beheading and quartering of traitors was formally abolished in 1870.
As time went by, hanging became more of a science than an art. By the mid-20th century the average time between taking a victim from the cell and death was around fifteen seconds — although on May 8, 1951 Albert Pierrepoint conducted the fastest hanging on record when James Inglis, whom a court had only three weeks earlier convicted and sentenced for the murder of a prostitute, fell through the trap only seven seconds after leaving his cell.
In 1965 Parliament passed the "Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act" abolishing capital punishment for murder. And with the introduction of the Human Rights Act in 1998, the death penalty was officially abolished for all crimes in both civilian and military cases.
The United States
Main article: ]In the United Kingdom the short-drop method was used until the 19th century, when the long drop was introduced. The short drop could be a protracted affair and was primarily for the entertainment of the watching public, the struggling of the victim giving rise to such terms as "the hangman's hornpipe". Since then, other forms of capital punishment, such as the electric chair and more recently lethal injection, have largely replaced hanging.
At present, only Washington and New Hampshire still retain hanging as an option. Laws were changed in 1996 to specify that penalties of death must be executed by injection unless the convict chooses hanging, but no hangings have taken place ever since. In New Hampshire if it found "... to be impractical to carry out the punishment of death ..." by lethal injection, then the condemned will be hanged. In Washington, the default method is lethal injection, though the condemned can choose hanging.
Serial killer and child molester Westley Allan Dodd chose it over injection in 1992. (See the book Driven to Kill.) Charles Campbell was another person hanged in the same State on 27 May 1994. The last person hanged in the United States was Billy Bailey, on January 25 1996 in Delaware, and later the state abolished it.
Other countries
In the Soviet Union, the last persons to be sentenced to death by hanging were Andrey Vlasov and 11 other officers of his army on August 1, 1946.
In Iran, a hanging procedure uses an automotive telescoping crane to hoist the condemned aloft. This method may have been adapted from yardarm hangings carried out by the Royal Navy.
In Singapore, mandatory hanging using the long-drop method is currently used as punishment for various crimes, such as drug trafficking, kidnapping and unauthorised possession of firearms. There is little evidence for a change in this policy , and an artwork commenting on it was modified in the name of self-censorship.
Recent hangings
A recent case of capital punishment by hanging is that of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was convicted of the 1990 murder and rape of a 14 year old girl in Kolkata in India. Although the Supreme Court of India has suggested that capital punishment be given in the rarest of rare cases, Chatterjee was executed on August 14 2004 in the first execution in West Bengal for eleven years.
On February 27 2004 the mastermind of the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, Shoko Asahara, was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Hanging is the common method of execution in capital punishment cases in Japan, although the punishment is rarely executed.
A 16-year old girl, Ateqeh Rajabi, was hanged in August 2004 in Iran for sexual misdemeanours. On July 19 2005, two Iranian boys, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, were publicly hanged at Edalat (Justice) Square in Mashhad, northeast Iran, on charges of homosexuality and rape. At the ages of 15 and 17, respectively, they were discovered to be having sexual relations, imprisoned for fourteen months and subjected to 228 lashes each, then executed. "Iran executes 2 gay teenagers". Retrieved 2006-04-27.</ref>
In Singapore, a 25-year old Australian, Nguyen Tuong Van, was hanged on December 2, 2005 after being convicted of drug trafficking in 2002. Numerous efforts from both the Australian government, numerous QCs (Queens Counsels) and countless petitions from organisations such as Amnesty International failed.
On March 9 2006, an official of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that Iraqi authorities executed 13 insurgents by hanging, the first official executions of insurgents carried out in the country since the restoration of the death penalty in 2004.
Grammar
The term "hanging" is the focus of a famous bit of grammatical trivia. Traditionally, the past tense and past participle of the verb "to hang" are "hung" when referring to the abstract idea of hanging things, but "hanged" when referring to an execution or death by hanging.
A useful way of remembering this is the old school saying, "Meat is hung, men are hanged.'
The distinction is not always followed; but in cases where it is not, such as when Professor Higgins sings in the song "Why Can't the English?" from the musical My Fair Lady,
By rights she should be taken out and hung For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue
the choice often appears to have been made to suit the rhyme and meter. (Professor Higgins is a linguist, so there may also be an element of intentional irony in his phrasing.)
References
- "How hanging causes death". Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- "Section 630.5, Procedures in Capital Murder". Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- "RCW 10.95.180: Death penalty—How executed".
- "Singapore clings to death penalty". Sunday Times (South Africa). 2005-11-21. Retrieved 2006-04-02.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Nguyen's dawn walk to the gallows". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-11-27. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- "Artist's protest against death penalty silenced by Singapore censorship". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Exclusive interview with gay activists in Iran on situation of gays, recent executions of gay teens and the future". Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- "More bombs bring death to Iraq". Mail & Guardian Online. 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2006-04-27.
- "Word usage: Hanged or hung?" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-04-27.
See also
- Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
- Capital punishment in Singapore
- Death erection
- Gallows
- Hand of Glory
- Jack Ketch
- Lynching
- Official Table of Drops
External links
- Capital Punishment U.K. — contains a lot of information about hangings
- 1990 Manual for Hanging in the State of Delaware &,dash; provides mathematical formulas for determining the proper "drop" height of a condemned criminal
- The Hanging of the convicted Lincoln assassination conspirators
- The process of judicial hanging
- Hanging injuries and strangulation
- Strangulation as death penalty in Qing China pictures
- Photographs of strangulation in Qing China