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| '''Hanging''' is a form of ] or a method for ]. It has been used throughout history as a form of capital punishment (and is still in use in some ]ern countries as well as some ] countries). There are four methods of hanging: | |||
| :* the ''long drop'' | |||
| :* the ''short drop'' | |||
| :* the ''standard drop'' | |||
| :* ''suspension hanging'' | |||
| A long-drop hanging may break the ] (]) causing traumatic ] and consequent ] and ]. | |||
| A long-drop, short-drop, standard-drop or suspension hanging may do one or more of the following: | |||
| * Close the ] causing ] or ''anesthesiologination'' | |||
| * Close the ] | |||
| * Close the ]s | |||
| * Induce carotid reflex, which reduces heartbeat when the pressure in the ] is high, causing ] | |||
| In ] 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 ]". | |||
| == History == | |||
| 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 ]. | |||
| Early methods of hanging simply involved a ] on a ] placed around the victim's ], with the loose end thrown over or tied to a tree branch; the hangman then drew up the ], who slowly ]d. 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 ], 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 ], 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| ==Mechanism of action== | |||
| The cause of death in hanging depends on the conditions releted to the event. Death is caused by severing the spinal cord between C1 and C2, which is effectively decapitation, when the body is released from relatively high (such as in judical hangings, in which this is the most usual mechanism) 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). Contrary to the common notion, airway compromise is not regarded a leading cause of death in hanging. Forensic experts may 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 murdered (by manual chocking). Also, there have been cases of ] leading to death; recently, children have accidentally died playing the ]. | |||
| Further information can be found here | |||
| ==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 | |||
| 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. | |||
| Between ] and ] ] abolished the death penalty for: | |||
| * ] goods worth five shillings (£0.25) or less | |||
| * Returning from ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| In ], Parliament reduced the number of ]s to four: | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] in ] | |||
| * ] with violence | |||
| Britain ended ]s in ] and formally abolished the hanging, ] and quartering of traitors in ]. | |||
| 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. | |||
| ===Soviet Union=== | |||
| In the ], the last persons to be sentenced to death by hanging were ] and 11 other officers of his army on ], ]. | |||
| === 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 --> | |||
| {{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 == | |||
| ] 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 ](Calcutta) 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 ] ], two ]ian boys, ], were publicly hanged at Edalat (Justice) Square in ], northeast Iran, on charges of ] and ]. The punishment has been met with international outrage. At the ages of 15 and 17, respectively, they were discovered having sexual relations. They were imprisoned for fourteen months and subjected to 228 lashes each, then executed. According to the ISNA report as translated by OutRage "They admitted having gay sex but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death." Subsequent to their execution the government broadcast the allegation that they had raped a 13-year-old boy, a story rejected by MAHA, the voice of the Iranian gay community. | |||
| 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. Opinion in Australia is divided, with people both opposed to and in support of the death penalty for Nguyen. Many Australian people have said that they will boycott Singapore in a backlash from this hanging. Others, in both Singapore and Australia, have accepted the hanging as law. | |||
| 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 == | |||
| 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. | |||
| 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, in the song "Why Can't the English?" from the ] ], Professor Higgins sings | |||
| ::''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 ], so there may also be an element of intentional irony in his phrasing.) | |||
| ] | |||
| == Folklore == | |||
| 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 == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * — contains alot of information about hangings. | |||
| * . Provides mathematical formulas for determining the proper "drop" height of a condemned criminal. | |||
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