<P> The last person to be executed by electric chair without the choice of an alternative method was Lynda Lyon Block on May 10, 2002, in Alabama . </P> <P> The use of the electric chair has declined as legislators sought what they believed to be more humane methods of execution . Lethal injection became the most widely used method, aided by media reports of botched electrocutions in the early 1980s . </P> <P> The electric chair has been criticized because of several instances in which the subjects were killed only after being subjected to multiple electric shocks . This led to a call for ending of the practice, because many see it as cruel and unusual punishment . Trying to address such concerns, Nebraska introduced a new electrocution protocol in 2004, which called for administration of a 15 - second - long application of electric current at a potential of 2,450 volts; after a 15 - minute wait, an official then checks for signs of life . New concerns raised regarding the 2004 protocol resulted, in April 2007, in the ushering in of the current Nebraska protocol, calling for a 20 - second - long application of electric current at a potential of 2,450 volts . (Prior to the 2004 protocol change, an initial eight - second application of current at 2,450 volts was administered, followed by a one - second pause, then a 22 - second application at 480 volts . After a 20 - second break, the cycle was repeated three more times .) </P> <P> In 1946, the electric chair failed to kill Willie Francis, who reportedly shrieked, "Take it off! Let me breathe!", after the current was applied . It turned out that the portable electric chair had been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate . A case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court (Louisiana ex rel . Francis v. Resweber), with lawyers for the condemned arguing that although Francis did not die, he had, in fact, been executed . The argument was rejected on the basis that re-execution did not violate the double jeopardy clause of the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution, and Francis was returned to the electric chair and successfully executed in 1947 . </P>

When did they stop using the electric chair