For factual background information as well as half of the present title, I am most indebted to Anne-Marie Cusac, "Stunning Technology: Corrections Cowboys Get a Charge out of Their New Sci-Fi Weaponry," The Progressive, Vol. 60, No. 7 (July, 1996), pp. 18 ff. This is the most extensive treatment of the stun belt issue that I have found. For helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper, I am particularly indebted to Virginia Muller Hinman and to George Bryjak.
(1) For Amnesty International’s statement on stun belts, see http://www.oil.ca/amnesty/ailib/aipub/1996/AMR/25104596.htm.
(2) Peter Kilborn, "Revival of Chain Gangs Takes a Twist," The New York Times (March 11, 1997), Section A, Page 18.
(4) This is discussed in Anne-Marie Cusac, "’Stunning’ Chain Gang Prisoners Is Malevolent, Inhumane, and Sometimes Fatal," Wisconsin State Journal July 9, 1996, Pg. 7A
(6) Steven Hudak, "Shocking Restraint," The Plain Dealer, December 25, 1996, Metro, Page 7B.
(7) Interestingly, some people actually want to try out the shock. Even Anne-Marie Cusac, at the end of her article, "Stunning Technology," admits to testing out a stun gun by administering a shock to herself.
(8) I am indebted to George Bryjak for this contrast.