That was TWENTY YEARS ago!! I wonder if she even remembered what she was in for after all these years. 20 years is way too long. Unless of course one never knew when they would get called down to the chair. That's how they should do it.
Watch Bob down the aisle get taken out of his turn for lunch after only a few weeks in. “Okay Bob - it's time for the execution.”
Or for Hank, after three years, instead of opening the door for exercise time he is picked up for the chair.
Just never knowing when that cell door opens - it might be the end.
That’s what the ChiComs do
But it isn’t common English custom and likely would have fallen under cruel and usual to the Founders
And it is
Actually, that is how it’s done here in Japan (gallows);
The people sentenced to death have NO idea (whether it is days or years) until they come to get them out of their cell. Not even the family members know until after the fact.