(DAWN – )
THE death penalty is unpleasant and difficult to talk about. In an effort to perhaps make it seem like just another order of business, we have a prisons manual.
An entire chapter is dedicated to executions. The taking of a life is sanitised by laying out schedules for hangings according to the time of year. Rope length in proportion to body weight is discussed at length. If there is a ‘mishap’, a reporting procedure is outlined as well.