Capital punishment in the United States

Capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 38 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government. The overwhelming majority of executions are performed by the states; the federal government maintains the right to use capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) but does so infrequently. Each state practicing capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits, and crimes which qualify. The United States is second only to the People's Republic of China in the number of death sentences passed.

History

The most comprehensive source (the Espy file) lists fewer than 15,000 people executed in United States or its predecessors between 1608 and 1991.http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution.htm The People's Republic of China executed more than this number just in the 1990s. 4,661 executions occurred in the U.S. in the period 1930 to 2002 with about two-third of the executions occurring in the first 20 years.http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm Additionally the United States Army executed 160 soldiers between 1930 and 1961. The last United States Navy execution was in 1849.

Related Topics:
People's Republic of China - United States Army - United States Navy

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Capital punishment was suspended in the United States between 1967 and 1976 as a result of several decisions of the United States Supreme Court, primarily the case of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)*. In this case, the court found the application of the death penalty to be unconstitutional, on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution.

Related Topics:
United States Supreme Court - Furman v. Georgia - * - Unconstitutional - Cruel and unusual punishment - Eighth amendment - United States Constitution

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In Furman, the United States Supreme Court specifically struck down Georgia's "unitary trial" procedure, in which the jury was asked to return a verdict of guilt or innocence and, simultaneously, determine whether the defendant would be punished by death or life imprisonment. Their line of reasoning was further clarified in the Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976)* and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 (1976), 431 U.S. 633 (1977)*, which explicity forbade any state from punishing a specific form of murder (such as that of a police officer) with a mandatory death penalty. The 1977 Coker v. Georgia ruling barred the death penalty for rape of a 16 year old married female, and, by implication, for any offense other than murder.

Related Topics:
United States Supreme Court - Woodson v. North Carolina - * - Roberts v. Louisiana - Coker v. Georgia - Rape

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In 1976, contemporaneously with Woodson and Roberts, the Court decided Gregg v. Georgia, and upheld a procedure in which the trial of capital crimes was bifurcated into guilt-innocence and sentencing phases. Executions resumed on January 17, 1977 when Gary Gilmore went before a firing squad in Utah. Since 1976, 946 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states. Texas has accounted for over a third of modern executions (337 as of January 2005); the federal government has executed only 3 people in the last 27 years. California has the greatest number of prisoners on death row, but has held relatively few executions.

Related Topics:
Gregg v. Georgia - January 17 - 1977 - Gary Gilmore - Firing squad - Utah - Texas - California

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