Electrocution is a means of killing a person by the use of a strong electric shock. Accidental electrocution occurs when a person accidentally comes in contact with, and is killed by, a powerful electric charge.
The electric chair is an electrocution device that has been used as a legal method of executing condemned criminals since 1890. It was supposed to be a humane alternative to hanging. However, problems associated with electrocution—including prolonged suffering and fires—led many states to adopt other methods. Electrocution is banned in most states of the United States, and it is used in other states only if the condemned person chooses it over lethal injection. However, in 2014, Tennessee became the first U.S. state to make electrocution a mandatory method of execution when lethal injection drugs are unavailable. For a list of the states that use electrocution as a method of execution, see Capital punishment (table).
