Execution
homicide as capital punishment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
homicide as capital punishment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Execution is where state authorities kill someone for having committed an extremely serious crime, usually treason or especially terrible murders. In most countries where the death penalty is still provided for by law, using it is an option available to the sentencing judge: even if the jury or judicial panel recommends the death penalty, the presiding judge still has the option to lock the convicted person in a prison for the rest of their life. A person whose job is to execute others is an executioner.
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Beheading means cutting the person's head off. It is one of the oldest execution methods and mentioned in the Bible. Beheading used to be the standard method of execution in Scandinavia and Germany. Commoners were usually beheaded with an axe and noblemen with a sword. A special device, like the guillotine, may be used, as in France. Nazi Germany used the guillotine to execute criminal convicts, such as murderers.
Many countries formerly used beheading as an execution for important people, including England. In England, many noblemen and even some kings and queens have been beheaded. There, the prisoner would be led up the scaffold and might be allowed a last speech. Then, he/she would be blindfolded and put his/her neck onto a block. Then, the executioner would lift up his axe and swing it down onto the victim's neck. If the executioner was skilled and the axe was sharp, then the axe would usually cut through the bone and organs of the victim in one stroke. But if the executioner was inexperienced, then it might take several strokes before the head was cut off.
Many countries do not allow executions as punishment any more, because it is too violent or immoral. However, many states of the United States and some other countries use it. In the United States, less violent ways of execution are used than in the past. Here are some ways of executing people:
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