Judge Upholds Use of Electric Chair

A judge in Orlando, Fla., ruled that the state’s electric chair is not cruel and unusual punishment and that it functioned properly in a July 8 execution. Judge Clarence Johnson said Allen Lee Davis “did not suffer any conscious pain” when he was executed for three 1982 murders. Davis bled from his nose as he died, and lawyers for the next man scheduled for death then challenged the use of the electric chair. The Florida Supreme Court ordered Johnson to hold a hearing on the issue and is scheduled to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the electric chair later this month.