The Crutch of Ritual: Social Control in the Modern American Capital Punishment System Page: 54
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the capital punishment ritual; it is crucial that state-sanctioned killing be distinguished from
illegal homicide in order for it to have any chance at moral legitimacy (Rizza, 2015), especially
since the citizens being put to death have invariably committed homicide themselves.
Once the condemned has been showered and changed, he is ready to make his final walk
to the execution chamber. In many states, the final walk occurs at midnight, this fact itself
speaking to the execution's highly ceremonial nature. Johnson, McGunigall-Smith, and Callahan
(2013) have noted the dramatic and meaningful nature of the last walk, as "something as simple
and human as a slip or stumble drives home the fact that a man is walking to his death, that the
person... will soon be dead, reduced by force to inert matter" (p. 20). It is also notable that the
last walk is the first time since the beginning of his prison stay that the inmate is allowed to walk
free, without being limited by shackles and chains. As discussed in reference to the last meal, the
act of giving the condemned this last taste of independence before taking away his life reflects
the ultimately false sense of autonomy that the system attempts to bestow on the prisoner at
this time.
The Death Chamber
The prisoner, dressed in his ceremonial garb, has now made his way into the execution
chamber. The inside of the chamber represents the ritual altar on which the victim is to be
sacrificed for the greater good of society. As mentioned throughout, the physical and spatial
environment in which a ritual takes place is of the utmost importance to ensuring that the ritual
actions are interpreted in the manner intended by their practitioners. With regards to the capital
punishment ritual, the particulars of this environment are even more important since a contrast
must be created between the death penalty and unsanctioned murder (Conquergood, 2002;54
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Pellegrino, Alexandra Clarke. The Crutch of Ritual: Social Control in the Modern American Capital Punishment System, thesis, August 2019; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538795/m1/58/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .