Bring Back "Old Sparky"

The tall-backed electric chair in Texas' Huntsville Prison has gathered a fine coating of dust since it was last used in 1965. About 100 men sit on death rows throughout the state, restlessly awaiting the outcome of their legal appeals. If thousands of Texans had their draconian way, the prisoners would not have to wait much longer.

After three Dallas police officers were found systematically murdered recently, the Greater Dallas Crime Commission, a businessmen's organization, launched an advertising campaign aimed, among other things, at throwing the fear of death into murderers by resuming capital punishment, which is still legal in Texas. "The refusal to carry out the death sentence has produced an alarming increase in capital crimes," the commission wrote. "It is time to serve notice that murder in Texas does not pay." Part of the commission's ads were "ballots" that readers were invited to fill out, expressing their opinion on the death penalty and other aspects of law enforcement. Of the ballots that had been counted last week, 10,620 advocated dusting off and using "Old Sparky," as prisoners call the chair. There seemed little sentiment to approach the problem from the other direction--by regulating the sale of guns, which can still be bought in Texas as conveniently as aspirin.

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