The is a traditional part of a condemned prisoner's last day. The day before the appointed time of Execution , the prisoner will be given the meal, as well as Religious rites, if he or she desires.
In many countries the prisoner may have the luxury of selecting what the last meal will be (within reason), and the authorities do their best to provide a prisoner with the requested meal.
Although the history of the tradition of giving a Prison er condemned to Capital Punishment a last meal is difficult to assess, most modern governments which execute prisoners subscribe to it.
The ancient Greeks , Egyptians , and Romans all had a tradition of giving the condemned man a final meal. The Aztecs fed their Human Sacrifice s for up to a year before their death.
In pre-modern . The meal was therefore mainly a superstitious precaution and - following that logic - the better the food and the drinks, the safer the condemned's oath of truce. Last meals were often public and all parties which were involved in the penal process took part.
There were some practical side effects of a peaceful last meal as well - it was crucial for the authorities that a public execution was a successful spectacle. In the eyes of the contemporaries the violated law could only be restored by ''mirroring'' the crime via retaliative penalties (see Lex Talionis ). However, if the mob had the impression that something was wrong and the chief character of the show was reluctant to play his or her role, things could get out of hand and place the malefactor's guilt in doubt. Hence it was most important for the authorities that the condemned met his or her fate calmly. Apart from having been constantly coerced since the Death Sentence , the poor sinner's solemn last meal was a significant symbol for the mob that he or she finally accepted the punishment. Additionally, delinquents were often served large quantities of alcoholic beverages to soothe them and bar them from execrating the authorities while ascending the scaffold - which would have been considered a bad omen.
In the does not offer the condemned a special last meal . Texas1 limits last meals to food available within the prison system, though occasionally brings in food "from the free world".
This represents the items reported requested but does not, in all cases, necessarily represent what the prisoner actually received.
- , a dry red Israel i wine. He drank about half of it.2
- Aileen Wuornos : She declined a special meal, but had a hamburger and other snack food from the prison's canteen. Later, she drank a cup of coffee.3
- Ángel Nieves Díaz : He declined a special meal. He was then served the regular prison meal for that day, but he declined that as well.4
- , a baked potato with sour cream and butter, buttered rolls, peas, and vanilla ice cream.
- , Olive s, Chicken , French Fries , buttered peas, Cherries , and a slice of cake.
- Desmond Keith Carter : He declined a special meal, but had two cheeseburgers, a steak sub, and two Cokes from the prison canteen, for which he paid $4.20 from his prison account.
- s and some ice cream.5
- Edward Hartman : A Greek salad, linguini with white clam sauce, cheese cake with cherry topping, garlic bread, and a Coke.6
- Gary Gilmore : A hamburger, hard-boiled eggs, a baked potato, a few cups of coffee, and three shots of whiskey.78
- Gary M. Heidnik : Two slices of a cheese pizza and two cups of black coffee.9
- Henry Martinez Porter : Flour tortillas, T-bone steak, refried beans, tossed salad, jalapeño peppers, ice cream, and chocolate cake.10
- James Edward Smith : A small cup of yogurt.
- John Wayne Gacy : A dozen deep-fried shrimp, a bucket of original recipe chicken from KFC, French fries, and a pound of strawberries.
- Karla Faye Tucker : Banana, peach, and garden salad with ranch dressing.
- Leon Jerome Moser : A large cheese pizza, cheese slices, cold cuts, pasta salad, iced cup cakes, and a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola.
- Big Mac s, two large fries, two hot Fudge Sundae s, a hot apple pie, and two large soft drinks.
- Perry Smith and Richard Hickock : Shrimp, French fries, garlic bread, ice cream, and strawberries with whipped cream.
- pizza to be given to a homeless person in Nashville, Tennessee . This request was denied.1112
- , pickled cucumbers, Cornbread , lemon pie, and ice cream.13
- Robert Alton Harris : A 21-piece bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, two large Domino's pizzas (no anchovies), ice cream, a bag of jelly beans, a six-pack of Pepsi, and a pack of Camel cigarettes.1415
- Ted Bundy : He declined a special meal, so he was given the traditional steak (medium-rare), eggs (over-easy), hash browns, toast, milk, coffee, juice, butter, and jelly.16
- mint chocolate-chip Ice Cream .1718
- and a can of Coca-Cola instead.19
- Victor Feguer : A single olive with the pit still in it.20
- Wesley Baker : The State of Maryland does not offer special meals; Baker had the regular meal of breaded fish, pasta marinara, green beans, orange fruit punch, bread, and milk.21
- William Bonin : Two pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three servings of chocolate ice cream, and fifteen cans of Coca-Cola.2223
These last meals were featured in various forms of media, including film, books, and television.
- Artist Julie Green, paints a series called "The Last Supper". This is an on-going series of painted porcelain plates illustrating final meals of United States death row inmates {Link without Title}
- In the episode Reborn To Be Wild of the Fox animated series '' King Of The Hill ''; Dale , Bill , Boomhauer and Kahn briefly created a "last meal club" in the realization that a condemned prisoner ate better than they did. They were eventually frightened away by the morbid nature of the meal and a feeling that they were tempting fate.
- An episode of the 1972 series ''The ABC Comedy Hour'' featured a sketch with Frank Gorshin imitating James Cagney as a condemned prisoner and Rich Little imitating James Stewart as a prison warden. When Little (as Stewart) told Gorshin he could have anything he wanted for his last meal, Gorshin (as Cagney) ordered "about a thousand" hummingbird tongues.
- With the advent of the Internet , a number of people seemed to become interested in what the typically requested last meals were. The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice used to make available the list of the requested last meal of recent inmates, and whether the request was fulfilled. The list has since been terminated but most of the entries can still be accessed at ''The Memory Hole'' .
- In the movie '' Frankie And Johnny '', Al Pacino plays an ex-prisoner/chef who used to make prison dinners and last meals for deathrow inmates.
- On The Simpsons , Homer ate Hans Moleman 's last meal, lobster tail and raspberry tart.
- In an episode of Da Ali G Show , Ali G asked Newt Gingrich if a prisoner can order an all-you-can-eat buffet as his last meal to keep eating and never get executed.
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