OPINION:
I don’t understand why Virginia would want to bring back the electric chair just because the commonwealth is having difficulty obtaining lethal drugs (“Bill to make electric chair backup in Virginia moves forward,” Web, March 2). The evolution from hanging to the electric chair to lethal injection was to make the death penalty more “humane.” Mind you, there are those who would like to see the executed receive the same stabbing, shooting or strangling that their victims received, and I can see the point in that. However, if we want to move forward, then it should be with a hyperbaric execution chamber. The chamber could be portable and be moved from prison to prison. The individual would be secured to a recliner in the chamber and as the pressure is lowered he or she would simple fall asleep before passing away. If we are seeking a softer, gentler method of state-sponsored execution, a hyperbaric chamber is the way to go.
DENNIS DOYLE
Woodbridge
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