Old Sparky
Old Sparky is the nickname for the electric chair used by the states of Texas , New York , Louisiana , Ohio , Illinois , Kentucky , Georgia, and Florida . The electric chairs in West Virginia and South Carolina , which are no longer in use today, were also named that way.
In English, the nickname is also used generally for electric chairs. The name alludes to the high voltage used - English spark means "spark".
Old Sparky in West Virginia and South Carolina
It used to be the nickname of the no longer operated electric chairs in the state correctional facility in Moundsville , West Virginia (now exhibited in the museum there) as well as in the Central Correctional Institution (CCI ) and later in the new building of the Broad-River- South Carolina penal facility (retired in 1989).
The electric chair in Florida
The Florida electric chair is in the state prison in Starke , a city in northern Florida. He is notorious for frequent failures, namely in the cases of Jesse Tafero, who was executed on May 4, 1990, and of Pedro Medina, who was executed on March 25, 1997. Flames shot from the heads of the convicts during the execution. This raised the question of whether the use of the electric chair is a cruel and unusual punishment that the constitution does not allow . Commenting on the incident following the execution of Medina, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth said, "People who want to commit murder should better not do it in Florida state because we may have a problem with the electric chair."
Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the electric chair was not unconstitutional. The problems would be caused by improper use and not the electric chair itself. The executioner's failure to properly wet the sponge of the head electrode is a mistake. Execution candidates today can choose between lethal injection and the "electric chair"; so far (as of March 2019) everyone has opted for the former option.