An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a
maximum-security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison systems in various countries, which pose a higher level of security to prevent prisoners from escaping and/or doing harm to other inmates or security guar ...
, although not always at the same prison where the
death row
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
population is housed. Inside the chamber is the device used to carry out the death sentence.
United States
![RedHatsExecutionChamber](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/RedHatsExecutionChamber.jpg)
In the United States, an execution chamber will usually contain a
lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
table. In most cases, a
witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
room is located adjacent to an execution chamber, where witnesses may watch the execution through glass windows. All except for two of the states which allow
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
are equipped with a death chamber, but many states rarely put them to use. The exceptions are
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, which has no execution chamber (although one inmate remains on death row since the abolition of capital punishment in that state is not retroactive) and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, which has no execution chambers after the lethal injection room and gas chamber were removed in 2019.
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, and
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
are the only states to have an execution chamber, which is equipped to execute an inmate by
lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
, which has never been used, while the states of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and
New York formerly had lethal injection chambers which were never used while the death penalty remained legal.
The National Ethics Council of the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
ruled in 2019 that its members may continue to design execution chambers in jurisdictions where they are legal.
Locations
![HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg)
Notes:
Death penalty abolished in 2020. All remaining inmate's death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by Gov.
Jared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...
immediately upon abolition.
Death penalty abolished in 2012. All remaining inmates death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the
Connecticut Supreme Court
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in ...
in 2015.
Death penalty abolished in 2011. All condemned prisoners sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by Gov.
Pat Quinn immediately upon abolition.
Death penalty abolished in 2013. Remaining inmate's death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by Gov.
Martin O'Malley
Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007.
O'Malley ...
in 2014.
Death penalty abolished in 2019;
one prisoner remains on death row under sentence of death.
Death penalty abolished in 2007.
[Amick, George.]
Amick: After Georgia debate, looking back on repeal of New Jersey's death penalty
. ''Times of Trenton
''The Times'' is a daily newspaper owned by Advance Publications that serves Trenton and the Mercer County, New Jersey area, with a strong focus on the government of New Jersey. The paper had a daily circulation of 77,405, with Sunday circulati ...
''. October 10, 2011. Retrieved on March 21, 2016. All remaining inmate's death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by Gov.
Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...
immediately upon abolition.
Death penalty abolished in 2009. All remaining inmates death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the
New Mexico Supreme Court
The New Mexico Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is established and its powers defined by Article VI of the New Mexico Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews civil and criminal decisi ...
in 2019.
Death penalty abolished in 2007. All remaining inmates death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the
New York Court of Appeals immediately upon abolition.
Closed in 2008 under
David Paterson's administration.
Death penalty abolished in 2021. All remaining inmates death sentences were automatically commuted to life imprisonment under the abolition statute.
Death penalty abolished in 2018. All remaining inmates death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the
Washington Supreme Court
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retir ...
immediately upon abolition.
If an execution does occur, the state will use its parole board meeting room at the state prison.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the execution chamber was part of a larger complex, often referred to as the "Execution Suite". The room, usually formed from two single
prison cells
A prison cell (also known as a jail cell) is a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held. Cells greatly vary by their furnishings, hygienic services, and cleanliness, both across countries and based on the level of punishm ...
, contained the large
trapdoor
A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...
, usually double-leaved, but in some older chambers such as at Oxford, single-leaved, and operating lever. The wooden beam from which the rope was suspended was usually set into the walls of the chamber above, with the floor removed. At Wandsworth Prison the floor was retained and holes allowed the rope and chains through. Oxford's chamber was of an old 19th-century type, and the beam was set into the walls of the chamber just above head height.
Such rooms were almost always built into one of the wings of a
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
; following the recommendation of prison governors during the 1948 Royal Commission on
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, further execution chambers were housed in purpose-built blocks, separate from the main prison. The last
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
to be constructed and used in Britain, at
HMP Aberdeen, was built in 1962, and was used one year later for the hanging of
Henry John Burnett
Henry John Burnett (5 January 1942 – 15 August 1963) was the last man to be hanged in Scotland, and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. He was tried at the high court in Aberdeen from 23 to 25 July 1963 for the murder of merchant seaman Thomas G ...
, the last person to be executed in Scotland. A freestanding execution block was built at HMP Perth in 1965, but was never used. This was the last gallows to be constructed in the United Kingdom.
The last officially operational gallows in the United Kingdom (as several remained unofficially in other prisons), at
Wandsworth Prison
HM Prison Wandsworth is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Pri ...
, was removed in 1994. Salvaged parts from it are currently in the possession of the
National Justice Museum, having previously been at the
HM Prison Service
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
museum.
Japan
![Tokyo detention center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Tokyo_detention_center.jpg)
Japan has seven execution chambers, which are located at the Detention Houses in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
,
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
,
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
,
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
, Sendai and Sapporo. All executions in Japan are carried out by hanging. The execution chamber in Tokyo has a trap door. As the condemned is dropped, their body falls into a room below the execution chamber and the death is confirmed.
[Lendon, Brad.]
Japan reveals long-secretive execution process
" ''CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
''. August 27, 2010. Retrieved on August 27, 2010. In the Tokyo facility, before the condemned is executed, they pass a statue of Amida Nyorai (
Amitābha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...
), a Buddhist deity. The execution room in Tokyo is separated into two sections, with a total area of 25 m
2.
[Diet members tour execution chamber]
" ''The Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.
History
''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
''. Thursday July 24, 2003. Retrieved on August 27, 2010.
Canada
In Canada, executions were usually carried out in the county/municipality jail where they were committed. Alberta had gallows for the entire province in
Fort Saskatchewan
Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmo ...
and Lethbridge. British Columbia had their executions in
Oakalla (
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
).
The
Don Jail
The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
was for murders committed in
The City of Toronto and County of York. The Ontario County Jail in
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
which was used for murders committed to what is now
Durham Region
The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Tor ...
. Most hangings were carried out using temporary gallows built in the jail yard although a few jails had permanent indoor facilities.
Gallery
File:SQ_Lethal_Injection_Room.jpg, Execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...
File:Florida electric-chair.jpg, Execution chamber at Florida State Prison in 1999, set up for electrocution
File:Execution chamber, Florida.jpg, Same execution chamber at the Florida State Prison, post-1999, set up for lethal injection
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Execution Chamber
Execution equipment
Rooms