Death Penalty
The Huntsville Unit is the location of the State of Texas execution chamber. The TDCJ houses male death row inmates in the Polunsky Unit and female death row inmates in the Mountain View Unit.
Between 1819 and 1923 the method of execution was hanging until Texas authorized the use of the electric chair; the use of the electric chair ended the execution of death sentences by counties in Texas. The chair– often euphemistically called "Old Sparky" was constructed by inmates. Between 1924 and 1964, 362 inmates were executed by electrocution. The chair now resides at the Texas Prison Museum, located on Interstate 45 on the north side of Huntsville which features displays of historical items from the prison system, including shanks and other items confiscated from inmates.
Inmates scheduled for execution are brought from death row to the Walls Unit early in the afternoon of their scheduled execution. Unlike other states, Texas does not allow inmates a special meal, because of abuse of the privilege by past prisoners and the rationale that they did not offer a meal to their victims and therefore should not be allowed a special recognition. Inmates can, but are not required to, make a last statement prior to their execution. By law executions are scheduled to begin after 6:00 p.m. Huntsville (Central) time. The inmates are housed until that time about 30 feet (9.1 m) from the door of the execution chamber; the Texas Death House is located at the northeast corner of the Walls Unit, just below the #1 picket. There is no law prohibiting multiple executions in a single day, but this has not happened since September 1951.
The execution chamber is a 9-foot (2.7 m) by 12-foot (3.7 m) room with turquoise walls and a gurney. When Jim Willett was the warden of Huntsville Unit, he added a pillow to the gurney. Two adjacent rooms, which view into the execution room through glass windows, house two groups. One room is reserved for the family or families of the crime victim(s). The other is for the family of the condemned.
For a listing of people executed in Huntsville Unit, see Category:People executed by Texas for all entries 1923 and later.
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Famous quotes containing the words death and/or penalty:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)