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Article: EDITORIAL: Electric chair should be retired.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- July 28, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Virginian-Pilot. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Jul. 28--In 1997, Florida executed a murderer named Pedro Medina. The event would have been long forgotten but for one bizarre fact: While Medina was strapped into the electric chair, with the current turned on, a flame shot from his head. Experts debate whether Medina felt that fire. Some believe he was dead instantly. Others aren't sure. For certain, it must have been horrifying to the witnesses. There's no civilized way for government to put someone to death. But lethal injection is a lot less grotesque than other methods, including the electric chair. That's why Virginia added lethal injection to its list of approved execution methods in 1995. From that ...