Capital punishment in the United States 1

Capital punishment in the United States

Death penalty statutes in the United StatesColor key:  No current death penaltystatute  Retentionist, not applied since at least 1976  Retentionist, has performed

execution since 1976  Retains in law; either statute/method ruled unconstitutional, penaltyabolished only prospectively, or abolition has yet to take effect

Capital punishment in the UnitedStates, in practice, applies only foraggravated murder and more rarely forfelony murder.[1] Capital punishmentwas a penalty at common law, formany felonies, and was enforced in allof the American colonies prior to theDeclaration of Independence.Following the American Revolutionthe Anglo-American common law wasmaintained in the United States, capitalpunishment with it.

The methods of execution and thecrimes subject to the penalty vary byjurisdiction and have varied widelythroughout time, though today they areusually done by poisoning the criminal. Thirty-four jurisdictions have banned it by law, others have suspended itsuse, and others are trying to expand its applicability. There were 37 executions in the United States in 2008,[2] thelowest number since 1994[3] (largely due to lethal injection litigation revolving around a now resolved constitutionalquestion).[4] [5] There were 46 executions in 2010, 44 by lethal injection, one by electric chair (in Virginia), and oneby firing squad (in Utah).[6]

Capital punishment has often been a contentious social issue in the United States; while historically, a large majorityof the American public has favored it in cases of murder, the extent of this support has varied over time, and therehas long been strong opposition from some sectors of the population. While public support today is substantiallylower than it was in the 1980s and '90s (in 1994 it reached an all-time high of 80%), it has been largely static overthe past decade.[7] A 2010 Gallup poll showed 64% of Americans favored it in cases of murder, while 29% opposedit.[8] When life in prison without parole is listed as a poll option, the support for the death penalty drops; one 2001poll showed 46% of Americans would prefer the death penalty and 45% would prefer life in prison.[9]

History

The Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas is thelocation of the execution chamber of the state of

Texas.

The first recorded death sentence in the British North Americancolonies was carried out in 1608 on Captain George Kendall,[10] whowas executed by firing squad at the Jamestown colony for allegedlyspying for the Spanish government.[11]

The Espy file,[12] compiled by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla,lists 15,269 people executed in the United States and its predecessorcolonies between 1608 and 1991. 4,661 executions occurred in theU.S. in the period from 1930 to 2002 with about two-thirds of theexecutions occurring in the first 20 years.[13] Additionally, the UnitedStates Army executed 135 soldiers between 1916 and 1999.[14] [15] [16]

Capital punishment in the United States 2

The largest single execution in United States history was the hanging of 38 Dakota people convicted of murder andrape during the brutal Dakota War of 1862. They were executed simultaneously on December 26, 1862, in Mankato,Minnesota. A single blow from an axe cut the rope that held the large four-sided platform, and the prisoners (exceptfor one whose rope had broken and who had to be re-hanged) fell to their deaths.[17] The second largest massexecution was also a hanging: the execution of 13 African American soldiers for taking part in the Houston Riot in1917. The largest non-military public mass execution in one of the original thirteen colonies occurred in 1723, when26 convicted pirates were hanged in Newport, Rhode Island by order of the Admiralty Court.[18]

States without capital punishment

Michigan

Historically, several states have always been without capital punishment, the earliest being Michigan, which hasnever conducted a single execution since it entered the Union. (However, one federal execution occurred inMichigan in 1938.) Shortly after attaining statehood, Michigan abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes,becoming the first English-speaking government in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes excepttreason.[19] [20] [21] In 1963, Michigan amended its constitution to prevent later attempts at reinstatement. Everyattempt through referendums and voter initiatives to reinstate the penalty since 1963 have failed, the latest being afailed attempt at a referendum in 2004.[22]

Alaska and Hawaii

The newest two states, Alaska and Hawaii, abolished the death penalty prior to statehood. Alaska, however, hadexecuted eight men during the earlier territorial government (1900-1959) and even earlier "Miner's Courts" hadexecuted a number of men in the 19th century.[23]

Other states

Other states with long tenures of no death penalty include Wisconsin (with the distinction of being the only state toperform a single state-level execution in its history, and also the first to abolish the death penalty for all crimes),Rhode Island (although later reintroduced, it was unused and abolished again), Maine, North Dakota, Minnesota,West Virginia, Iowa, and Vermont. The District of Columbia has also abolished the death penalty; it was last appliedthere in 1957. One state, Oregon, abolished the death penalty through an overwhelming majority in a 1964 publicreferendum,[24] but reinstated it in a 1984 joint death penalty/life imprisonment referendum by an even highermargin, after a similar 1978 referendum succeeded but was not implemented due to judicial rulings.

Recent abolition

As of March 2011, the following U.S. states have fully abolished the death penalty: Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa,Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia andWisconsin. The District of Columbia has also abolished the death penalty; New Mexico may yet execute twocondemned inmates sentenced prior to abolition. In Illinois, where recent abolition legislation took effect on July 1,2011, all former death row inmates have been moved to regular jail cells.[25]

Only three of the above states have legislatively abolished the death penalty in the so-called "modern era of capitalpunishment", and only two have attained de facto abolition through their state judiciaries; the remainder eitherabolished capital punishment before the moratorium was lifted, or had statutes that were struck down and did notreinstate the death penalty.In 2007, New Jersey became the first state to repeal the death penalty in the modern system of capital punishment,[26] followed by New Mexico in 2009 (though not retroactively, permitting the future execution of two inmates on the state's death row), and Illinois in 2011 (with the Governor commuting the death sentences of all death row inmates).[27] [28] [29] However, in states with a large death row population and regular executions, including

Capital punishment in the United States 3

California and Texas,[30] [31] the death penalty remains strongly in the landscape and is unlikely to end at any timesoon.[32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]

Four states in the modern era, Nebraska in 2008, New York and Kansas in 2004, and Massachusetts in 1984, hadtheir statutes ruled unconstitutional by state courts. The death rows of New York and Massachusetts weredisestablished. Of the four states, only Nebraska has performed executions since the constitutionality of capitalpunishment was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1976, the four states having done so last in 1997, 1963, 1965, and1947, respectively. In New York and Massachusetts, attempts to restore the death penalty were unsuccessful,[38] [39]

while Kansas successfully appealed State v. Kleypas, the Kansas Supreme Court decision that declared the state'sdeath penalty statute unconstitutional, to the U.S. Supreme Court -- and death sentences continue to be sought. NewYork had previously abolished the death penalty temporarily, in 1860.[40] Nebraska has performed three executionssince 1976, all in the 1990s; its statute has been ineffective since February 8, 2008, when the method used,electrocution, was ruled unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. The Governor, a critic of the Court'sdecision, has yet to give final approval to the bill, though he is highly likely to do so.[41] [42] [43]

The only jurisdictions with constitutional death penalty statutes that have not performed an execution since 1976 areNew Hampshire, Kansas, and the United States military, although all have populated death rows.

Puerto RicoThe U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has no death penalty. Puerto Rico instituted a four-year moratorium on the use ofthe death penalty in 1917. The last execution took place in 1927 and the Puerto Rican legislature abolished the deathpenalty in 1929.[44]

Puerto Rico's constitution expressly forbids capital punishment, stating "The death penalty shall not exist", setting itapart from all US states and territories other than Michigan, which also has a constitutional prohibition (eleven otherstates and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment through statutory law); however, capitalpunishment is still applicable to offenses committed in Puerto Rico, if they fall under the jurisdiction of the federalgovernment, though federal death penalty prosecutions that have occurred in Puerto Rico have generated significantcontroversy.[45]

Suspension by Supreme CourtFurther information: Furman v. Georgia

Executions in the US since 1960

Capital punishment was suspended in theUnited States from 1972 through 1976primarily as a result of the Supreme Court'sdecision in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S.238 [46] (1972). The last pre-Furmanexecution was that of Luis Monge on June2, 1967. In this case, the court found theimposition of the death penalty in aconsolidated group of cases to beunconstitutional, on the grounds of cruel andunusual punishment in violation of theeighth amendment to the United StatesConstitution.

In Furman, the United States Supreme Court considered a group of consolidated cases. The lead case involved an individual convicted under Georgia's death penalty statute, which featured a "unitary trial" procedure in which the jury was asked to return a verdict of guilt or innocence and, simultaneously, determine whether the defendant would

Capital punishment in the United States 4

be punished by death or life imprisonment.In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court struck down the imposition of the death penalties in each of theconsolidated cases as unconstitutional. The five justices in the majority did not produce a common opinion orrationale for their decision, however, and agreed only on a short statement announcing the result. The narrowestopinions, those of Byron White and Potter Stewart, expressed generalized concerns about the inconsistentapplication of the death penalty across a variety of cases but did not exclude the possibility of a constitutional deathpenalty law. Stewart and William O. Douglas worried explicitly about racial discrimination in enforcement of thedeath penalty. Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr. expressed the opinion that the death penalty wasproscribed absolutely by the Eighth Amendment as "cruel and unusual" punishment.Though many observers expected few, if any, states to readopt the death penalty after Furman, 37 states did in factenact new death penalty statutes which attempted to address the concerns of White and Stewart. Some of the statesresponded by enacting "mandatory" death penalty statutes which prescribed a sentence of death for anyone convictedof certain forms of murder (White had hinted such a scheme would meet his constitutional concerns in his Furmanopinion).Other states adopted "bifurcated" trial and sentencing procedures, with various procedural limitations on the jury'sability to pronounce a death sentence designed to limit juror discretion. The Court clarified Furman in Woodson v.North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 [47] (1976) and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 [48] (1976), 431 U.S. 633 [49] (1977), which explicitly forbade any state from punishing a specific form of murder (such as that of a police officer)with a mandatory death penalty.

Capital Punishment Since 1976(by jurisdiction)

Jurisdiction Executions[50]

Current death row inmates[51]

Texas 475 321

Virginia 109 11

Oklahoma 96 77

Florida 69 398

Missouri 68 50

Alabama 53 206

Georgia 52 103

Ohio 45 159

North Carolina 43 165

South Carolina 43 63

Louisiana 28 86

Arizona 28 138

Arkansas 27 43

Indiana 20 14

Mississippi 15 60

Delaware 15 20

California 13 721

Illinois 12 16[27]

Nevada 12 81

Capital punishment in the United States 5

Utah 7 9

Tennessee 6 87

Maryland 5 5

Washington 5 9

Nebraska 3 12

Pennsylvania 3 219

Federal govt 3 61

Montana 3 2

Kentucky 3 36

Oregon 2 34

Colorado 1 4

Connecticut 1 10

Idaho 1 16

New Mexico 1 2[52]

South Dakota 1 3

Wyoming 1 1

Kansas 0 9

New Hampshire 0 1

U.S. Military 0 6

Total[53] 1,269 3,251

No current death penalty statute: Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois[27] , Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico[52] , North Dakota,Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S.Virgin Islands.

Statute ruled unconstitutional: Massachusetts[54] and New York[55] .

Notes:

Capital punishment resumedFurther information: Gregg v. GeorgiaIn 1976, contemporaneously with Woodson and Roberts, the Court decided Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (http:/ /supreme. justia. com/ us/ 428/ 153/ case. html) (1976) and upheld a procedure in which the trial of capital crimes wasbifurcated into guilt-innocence and sentencing phases. At the first proceeding, the jury decides the defendant's guilt;if the defendant is innocent or otherwise not convicted of first-degree murder, the death penalty will not be imposed.At the second hearing, the jury determines whether certain statutory aggravating factors exist, and whether anymitigating factors exist, and, in many jurisdictions, weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors in assessing theultimate penalty — either death or life in prison, either with or without parole.The 1977 Coker v. Georgia decision barred the death penalty for rape, and, by implication, for any offense other thanmurder. The current federal kidnapping statute, however, may be exempt because the death penalty applies if thevictim expires in the perpetrator's custody, not necessarily by his hand, thus stipulating a resulting death, which wasthe wording of the objection. In addition, the federal government retains the death penalty for such non-murderoffenses as treason, espionage and crimes under military jurisdiction; there has been no challenge to these statutes asof 2007.

Capital punishment in the United States 6

Executions resumed on January 17, 1977, when Gary Gilmore went before a firing squad in Utah. But the pace wasquite halting due to use of litigation tactics which involved filing repeated writs for habeas corpus, which succeededfor many in delaying their actual execution for many years. Although hundreds of individuals were sentenced todeath in the U.S. during the 1970s and early 1980s, only ten people besides Gilmore (who had waived all of hisappeal rights) were actually executed prior to 1984.The United States Supreme Court, though, has placed two major restrictions on the use of the death penalty. First,the Supreme Court case of Atkins v. Virginia, decided June 20, 2002,[1] held that executions of mentally retardedcriminals are "cruel and unusual punishments" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Generally, a person with an IQbelow 70 is considered to be mentally retarded. Prior to this decision, between 1984 and 2002 forty-four mentallyretarded inmates were executed.[2]

Second, in 2005 the Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (http:/ / supreme. justia. com/ us/543/ 551/ case. html) (2005), abolished executions for persons under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.New Mexico repealed its death penalty statute on March 17, 2009, becoming the second state (after New Jersey) toabolish the death penalty since executions resumed in 1976. The law, signed by Governor Bill Richardson, tookeffect on July 1, 2009 and replaces the death penalty with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The law,though, is not retroactive – inmates currently on New Mexico's Death Row and persons convicted of capital offensescommitted before this date may still be sentenced to death under New Mexico's pre-existing death penalty statute.[3]

Connecticut is considering legislation to abolish its death penalty in the current legislative session. A bill to abolishthe death penalty was vetoed by former governor M. Jodi Rell in June 2009 after it easily passed in the GeneralAssembly.[4] Current governor Dan Malloy indicated he would sign a bill abolishing the death penalty if it waspassed by the General Assembly.[5]

Possibly in part due to expedited federal habeas corpus procedures embodied in the Antiterrorism and EffectiveDeath Penalty Act of 1996, the pace of executions has picked up. Since the death penalty was reauthorized in 1976,1,210 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states, with most occurring after 1990. Texas hasaccounted for over a third of modern executions[30] [31] (and over four times as many as Virginia, the state with thesecond-highest number); California has the greatest number of prisoners on death row, but has held relatively fewexecutions. See the table for executions and death row inmates by jurisdiction.

New concerns post-FurmanIn the decades since Furman, new questions have emerged about whether or not prosecutorial arbitrariness hasreplaced sentencing arbitrariness. A study by Pepperdine University School of Law published in Temple LawReview, “Unpredictable Doom and Lethal Injustice: An Argument for Greater Transparency in Death PenaltyDecisions," surveyed the decision-making process among prosecutors in various states. The authors found thatprosecutors' capital punishment filing decisions remain marked by local “idiosyncrasies,” suggesting they are not inkeeping with the spirit of the Supreme Court’s directive. This means that “the very types of unfairness that theSupreme Court sought to eliminate” may still “infect capital cases.” Wide prosecutorial discretion remains because ofoverly broad criteria. California law, for example, has 22 “special circumstances,” making nearly all premeditatedmurders potential capital cases. The 37 states that have the death penalty have varying numbers and types of “deathqualifiers” – circumstances that allow for capital charges. The number varies from a high of 34 in California to 22 inColorado and Delaware to 12 in Texas, Nebraska, Georgia and Montana. The study's authors call for reform of stateprocedures along the lines of reforms in the federal system, which the U.S. Department of Justice initiated with a1995 protocol.[6]

Capital punishment in the United States 7

Crimes subject to capital punishmentCrimes subject to the death penalty vary by jurisdiction. All jurisdictions that use capital punishment designate thehighest grade of murder a capital crime, although most jurisdictions require aggravating circumstances. Treasonagainst the United States, as well as treason against the states of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois,Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Washington are capital offenses.[7]

Other capital crimes include: the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, espionage, terrorism, certainviolations of the Geneva Conventions that result in the death of one or more persons, and treason at the federal level;aggravated rape in Louisiana, Florida,[8] and Oklahoma; extortionate kidnapping in Oklahoma; aggravatedkidnapping in Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and South Carolina; aircraft hijacking in Alabama; drug traffickingresulting in a person's death in Connecticut and Florida;[9] train wrecking which leads to a person's death, and perjurywhich leads to a person's death in California.[7] [10] [11]

Additionally, the Uniform Code of Military Justice allows capital punishment for a list of offenses during wartimeincluding: desertion, mutiny, spying, and misconduct before the enemy. In practice, no one has been executed for acrime other than murder or conspiracy to murder since James Coburn was executed for robbery in Alabama onSeptember 4, 1964.[12]

On June 25, 2008 in Kennedy v. Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Louisiana's death penalty for childrapists, saying "there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder on the one hand and nonhomicidecrimes against individual persons."[13] The Court went further, ruling out the death penalty for any crime against anindividual (as opposed to "offenses against the state," such as treason or espionage, or crimes against humanity)"where the victim’s life was not taken."[14]

As of November 2008, there is only one person on death row facing capital punishment who has not been convictedof murder. Demarcus Sears remains under a death sentence in Georgia for the crime of "Kidnapping With BodilyInjury." Sears was convicted in 2006 for the Kidnapping and Bodily Injury of victim Gloria Ann Wilbur. Wilbur waskidnapped and beaten in Georgia, raped in Tennessee, and murdered in Kentucky. Sears was never charged with themurder of Wilbur in Kentucky, but was sentenced to death by a jury in Georgia for Kidnapping with BodilyInjury.[15] [16]

Several people who were executed have received posthumous pardons for their crimes. For example, slave revoltwas a capital crime, and many who were executed for that reason have since been posthumously pardoned.The last executions solely for crimes other than homicide:

Crime Convict Date State

Aiding a runaway slave Starling Carlton 1859 South Carolina

Arson George Hughes, George Smith, andAsbury Hughes

August 1884 Alabama

Burglary Frank Bass August 8, 1941 Alabama

Criminal assault Rudolph Wright January 11, 1962 California

Concealing the birth/death of aninfant

Hannah Piggen 1785 Massachusetts (Middlesex County)

Conspiracy to Commit Murder Five unnamed Yuki men July 21, 1863 California[17]

Counterfeiting Thomas Davis October 11, 1822 Alabama

Desertion Eddie Slovik January 31, 1945 Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France (Firingsquad).[18]

Conspiracy to Commit Espionage Ethel and Julius Rosenberg June 19, 1953 New York (Federal execution)

Forgery Unknown defendant March 6, 1840 South Carolina

Capital punishment in the United States 8

Horse stealing (Grand Larceny) Theodore Velenquez January 30, 1852 California[19]

Kidnapping Billy Monk November 21,1960

California

Piracy (Slave Trading) Nathaniel Gordon February 21,1862

New York (Federal execution)

Rape Ronald Wolfe[20] May 8, 1964 Missouri

Robbery James Coburn September 4,1964

Alabama

Slave revolt Caesar, Sam, and Sanford (slaves) October 19, 1860 Alabama

Theft Jake (slave) December 3,1855

Alabama

Train Robbery Black Jack Ketchum April 26, 1901 New Mexico Territory

Treason John Conn 1862 Texas

Sodomy/buggery/bestiality Joseph Ross December 20,1785

Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County)

Witchcraft Manuel[21] [21] June 15, 1779 Illinois Country (present-day Illinois)

The legal processThe legal administration of the death penalty in the United States is complex. Typically, it involves four criticalsteps: (1) sentencing, (2) direct review, (3) state collateral review, and (4) federal habeas corpus. Recently, a narrowand final fifth level of process—(5) the Section 1983 challenge—has become increasingly important.[22] (Clemencyor pardon, through which the Governor or President of the jurisdiction can unilaterally reduce or abrogate a deathsentence, is an executive rather than judicial process.[23] )

Direct reviewIf a defendant is sentenced to death at the trial level, the case then goes into a direct review.[24] The direct reviewprocess is a typical legal appeal. An appellate court examines the record of evidence presented in the trial court andthe law that the lower court applied and decides whether the decision was legally sound or not.[25] Direct review of acapital sentencing hearing will result in one of three outcomes. If the appellate court finds that no significant legalerrors occurred in the capital sentencing hearing, the appellate court will affirm the judgment, or let the sentencestand.[24] If the appellate court finds that significant legal errors did occur, then it will reverse the judgment, ornullify the sentence and order a new capital sentencing hearing.[26] Lastly, if the appellate court finds that noreasonable juror could find the defendant eligible for the death penalty, a rarity, then it will order the defendantacquitted, or not guilty, of the crime for which he/she was given the death penalty, and order him sentenced to thenext most severe punishment for which the offense is eligible.[26] About 60% survive the process of direct reviewintact.[27]

State collateral reviewAt times when a death sentence is affirmed on direct review, it is considered final. Yet, supplemental methods to attack the judgment, though less familiar than a typical appeal, do remain. These supplemental remedies are considered collateral review, that is, an avenue for upsetting judgments that have become otherwise final.[28] Where the prisoner received his death sentence in a state-level trial, as is usually the case, the first step in collateral review is state collateral review. (If the case is a federal death penalty case, it proceeds immediately from direct review to federal habeas corpus.) Although all states have some type of collateral review, the process varies widely from state

Capital punishment in the United States 9

to state.[29] Generally, the purpose of these collateral proceedings is to permit the prisoner to challenge his sentenceon grounds that could not have been raised reasonably at trial or on direct review.[30] Most often these are claims,such as ineffective assistance of counsel, which require the court to consider new evidence outside the original trialrecord, something courts may not do in an ordinary appeal. State collateral review, though an important step in that ithelps define the scope of subsequent review through federal habeas corpus, is rarely successful in and of itself. Onlyaround 6% of death sentences are overturned on state collateral review.[31]

Federal habeas corpusAfter a death sentence is affirmed in state collateral review, the prisoner may file for federal habeas corpus, which isa unique type of lawsuit that can be brought in federal courts. Federal habeas corpus is a species of collateral review,and it is the only way that state prisoners may attack a death sentence in federal court (other than petitions forcertiorari to the United States Supreme Court after both direct review and state collateral review). The scope offederal habeas corpus is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which restrictedsignificantly its previous scope. The purpose of federal habeas corpus is to ensure that state courts, through theprocess of direct review and state collateral review, have done at least a reasonable job in protecting the prisoner'sfederal constitutional rights. Prisoners may also use federal habeas corpus suits to bring forth new evidence that theyare innocent of the crime, though to be a valid defense at this late stage in the process, evidence of innocence mustbe truly compelling.[32]

Review through federal habeas corpus is narrow in theory, but it is important in practice. According to EricFreedman, 21% of death penalty cases are reversed through federal habeas corpus.[31]

James Lieberman, a professor of law at Columbia Law School, stated in 1996 that his study found that when habeascorpus petitions in death penalty cases were traced from conviction to completion of the case that there was "a 40percent success rate in all capital cases from 1978 to 1995."[33] Similarly, a study by Ronald Tabek in a law reviewarticle puts the success rate in habeas corpus cases involving death row inmates even higher, finding that between"1976 and 1991, approximately 47% of the habeas petitions filed by death row inmates were granted."[34] Thedifferent numbers are largely definitional, rather than substantive. Freedam's statistics looks at the percentage of alldeath penalty cases reversed, while the others look only at cases not reversed prior to habeas corpus review.A similar process is available for prisoners sentenced to death by the judgment of a federal court.[35]

Section 1983 contestedUnder the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, a state prisoner is ordinarily only allowed one suit forhabeas corpus in federal court. If the federal courts refuse to issue a writ of habeas corpus, an execution date may beset. In recent times, however, prisoners have postponed execution through a final round of federal litigation using theCivil Rights Act of 1871 — codified at 42 U.S.C.  § 1983 (http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ uscode/ 42/ 1983.html) — which allows people to bring lawsuits against state actors to protect their federal constitutional and statutoryrights.Traditionally, Section 1983 was of limited use for a state prisoner under sentence of death because the Supreme Court has held that habeas corpus, not Section 1983, is the only vehicle by which a state prisoner can challenge his judgment of death.[36] In the 2006 Hill v. McDonough case, however, the United States Supreme Court approved the use of Section 1983 as a vehicle for challenging a state's method of execution as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The theory is that a prisoner bringing such a challenge is not attacking directly his judgment of death, but rather the means by which that the judgment will be carried out. Therefore, the Supreme Court held in the Hill case that a prisoner can use Section 1983 rather than habeas corpus to bring the lawsuit. Yet, as Clarence Hill's own case shows, lower federal courts have often refused to hear suits challenging methods of execution on the ground that the prisoner brought the claim too late and only for the purposes of delay. Further, the Court's decision in Baze v. Rees, upholding a lethal-injection method used by many states, has drastically narrowed

Capital punishment in the United States 10

the opportunity for relief through 1983.

Mitigating factorsThe United States Supreme Court in Penry v. Lynaugh and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit inBigby v. Dretke have been clear in their decisions that jury instructions in death penalty cases that do not ask aboutmitigating factors regarding the defendant's mental health violate the defendant's Eighth Amendment rights, sayingthat the jury is to be instructed to consider mitigating factors when answering unrelated questions. This rulingsuggests that specific explanations to the jury are necessary to weigh mitigating factors.

Methods

The former State of Louisiana execution chamberat the Red Hat Cell Block in the Louisiana State

Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish. Theelectric chair is a replica of the original.

Usage of lethal injection for executions in theUnited StatesColor key:  State uses only this

method  State uses this method primarily but hassecondary methods  State has never used this

method

Various methods have been used in the history of the Americancolonies and the United States but only five methods are currentlyused. Historically, burning, crushing, breaking on wheel, andbludgeoning were used for a small number of executions, whilehanging was the most common method. The last person burned at thestake was a black slave in South Carolina August 1825.[37] The lastperson to be hanged in chains was a murderer named John Marshall inWest Virginia on April 4, 1913. Although beheading was a legalmethod in Utah from 1851 to 1888, it was never used.[38]

The last use of the firing squad between 1608 and the moratorium onjudicial executions between 1967 and 1977 was when Utah shot JamesW. Rodgers on March 30, 1960. The last use of the gallows between1608 and the moratorium was when Kansas hanged George York onJune 22, 1965. The last use of the electric chair between the firstelectrocution on August 6, 1890 and the moratorium was whenOklahoma electrocuted James French on August 10, 1966. The last useof the gas chamber between the first gassing on February 8, 1924 andthe moratorium was when Colorado gassed Luis Monge on June 2,1967.

The moratorium ended January 17, 1977 with the shooting of GaryGilmore by firing squad in Utah. The first use of the electric chair afterthe moratorium was the electrocution of John Spenkelink in FloridaMay 25, 1979. The first use of the gas chamber after the moratoriumwas the gassing of Jesse Bishop in Nevada October 22, 1979. The firstuse of the gallows after the moratorium was the hanging of WestleyAllan Dodd in Washington January 5, 1993. December 7, 1982 is also an important day in the history of capitalpunishment in the United States; Charles Brooks, Jr., put to death in Texas, was the first person executed by lethalinjection.

Until the 21st century, electrocution and gassing were the most prevalent methods of execution in the United States.The electrocutions of John Evans and Horace Franklin Douglas, Jr. in Alabama, Jesse Tafero, Pedro Medina, andAllen Lee Davis in Florida, Alpha Otis

Capital punishment in the United States 11

Number of executions each year by the methodused in the United States and the earlier coloniesfrom 1608 to 2004. The adoption of electrocution

caused a marked drop off in the number ofhangings, which was used even less with the use

of the gas chamber. After Gregg v. Georgia, moststates changed to lethal injection, leading to its

rise.

Stephens in Georgia, William E. Vandiver in Indiana, Frank J.Coppola, Wilbert Lee Evans, and Derick Lynn Peterson in Virginia,and the gassings of Jimmy Lee Gray in Mississippi and Donald EugeneHarding in Arizona were botched and are often cited by opponents ofcapital punishment as unacceptable outcomes of such methods.

Currently, lethal injection is the method used or allowed in all of the 34states which allow the death penalty. Nebraska required electrocution,but in 2008 the state's supreme court ruled that the method wasunconstitutional. In mid-2009 Nebraska officially changed its methodof execution to lethal injection.[39] [40] [41] Other states also allowelectricity, firing squads, hanging and lethal gas. From 1976 toSeptember 14, 2011, there were 1,267 executions, of which 1,093 wereby lethal injection, 157 by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 byhanging, and 3 by firing squad.[42]

The method of execution of federal prisoners for offenses under theViolent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is that of the state in which the conviction took place. Ifthe state has no death penalty, the judge must choose a state with the death penalty for carrying out the execution.For offenses under the 1988 Drug Kingpin Law, the method of executions is lethal injection. The FederalCorrectional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana is currently the home of the only death chamber for federal deathpenalty recipients in the United States, where inmates are put to death by lethal injection. The complex has so farbeen the only location used for federal executions post-Gregg; Timothy McVeigh and Juan Garza were put to deathin June 2001, and Louis Jones, Jr. was put to death on March 18, 2003.

In 2004, Utah made lethal injection the only form of capital punishment. However those already on death row weregrandfathered on the type of execution they chose at sentencing. At the time of the change in the law there were stillthree inmates on Utah's death row who had selected firing squad.The use of lethal injection has become standard. The last execution by any other method:

Method Date State Convict

Electrocution March 18, 2010 Virginia Paul Powell

Shooting June 18, 2010 Utah Ronnie Lee Gardner

Lethal gas March 3, 1999 Arizona Walter LaGrand[43]

Hanging January 25, 1996 Delaware William Bailey

The remaining two states that allow hanging[44] are New Hampshire, which allows it at the decision of theCorrections officials,[45] and Washington, at the decision of the prisoner.[46]

Electrocution was the preferred method of execution during the 20th century. Electric chairs have commonly beennicknamed Old Sparky; however, Alabama's electric chair became known as the "Yellow Mama" due to its uniquecolor. Some, particularly in Florida, were noted for malfunctions, which caused discussion of their cruelty andresulted in a shift to lethal injection as the preferred method of execution. Although lethal injection dominates as amethod of execution, some states allow prisoners on death row to choose the method used to execute them.Regardless of the method, an hour or two before the execution, the condemned person is offered religious services,and a last meal, the contents of which is often released to the news media. Executions are carried out in private withonly invited persons able to view the proceedings; in some cases, journalists have reserved spots, such as in Texas,where The Associated Press is entitled to send a reporter to witness each execution.

Capital punishment in the United States 12

DebateCapital punishment is a controversial issue, with many prominent organizations and individuals participating in thedebate. Amnesty International and some religions oppose capital punishment on moral grounds, while the InnocenceProject works to free wrongly convicted prisoners, including death row inmates, based on newly available DNAtests. Other groups, such as the Southern Baptists, law enforcement organizations, and some victims' rights groupssupport capital punishment.The United States is one of only three industrialized democracies that still have it. From the others, Japan hasexecuted prisoners, like the United States, while South Korea currently has a moratorium in effect; in both countries,public support is similarly high.Elections have sometimes turned on the issue; in 1986, three justices were removed from the Supreme Court ofCalifornia by the electorate (including Chief Justice Rose Bird) partly because of their opposition to the deathpenalty.Religious groups are widely split on the issue of capital punishment,[47] generally with more conservative groupsmore likely to support it and more liberal groups more likely to oppose it. The Fiqh Council of North America, agroup of highly influential Muslim scholars in the United States, has issued a fatwa calling for a moratorium oncapital punishment in the United States until various preconditions in the legal system are met.[48]

In October 2009, the American Law Institute voted to disavow the framework for capital punishment that it hadcreated in 1962, as part of the Model Penal Code, "in light of the current intractable institutional and structuralobstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment." A study commissioned bythe institute had said that experience had proved that the goal of individualized decisions about who should beexecuted and the goal of systemic fairness for minorities and others could not be reconciled.[49]

In total, 138 prisoners have been either acquitted, or received pardons or commutations on the basis of possibleinnocence, since 1973.[50] Death penalty opponents often argue that this statistic shows how perilously close stateshave come to undertaking wrongful executions; proponents point out that the statistic refers only to those exoneratedin law, and that the truly innocent may be a smaller number.Arguments for and against capital punishment are based on moral, practical, and religious grounds. Advocates of thedeath penalty argue that it deters crime, is a good tool for prosecutors (in plea bargaining for example),[51] improvesthe community by eliminating recividism by executed criminals, provides closure to surviving victims or loved ones,and is a just penalty for the crimes it punishes. Opponents argue that the death penalty is not an effective means ofdeterring crime,[52] risks the execution of the innocent, is unnecessarily barbaric in nature, is levieddisproportionately upon men, racial minorities, and the poor, cheapens human life, and puts a government on thesame base moral level as those criminals involved in murder.[53]

Another argument (specific to the United States) in the capital punishment debate is the cost. The convict is morelikely to use the whole appeals process if the jury issues a death sentence than if it issues life without parole.[54] Butothers who contest this argument say that the greater cost of appeals where the prosecution does seek the deathpenalty is offset by the savings from avoiding trial altogether in cases where the defendant pleads guilty to avoid thedeath penalty.[55]

As noted in the introduction to this article, the American public has recently maintained its position of support forcapital punishment for murder. However, when given a choice between the death penalty and life imprisonmentwithout parole, support has traditionally been significantly lower than polling which has only mentioned the deathpenalty as a punishment; in the 2010 poll, for instance, the disparity narrowed, with 49% favoring the death penaltyand 46% favoring life imprisonment.[8] The highest level of support recorded overall was 80% in 1994 (16%opposed), and the lowest recorded was 42% in 1966 (47% opposed); on the question of the death penalty vs. lifewithout parole, the strongest preference for the death penalty was 61% in 1997 (29% favoring life), and the lowestpreference for the death penalty was 47% in 2006 (48% favoring life).[7]

Capital punishment in the United States 13

Ages of condemned prisoners

Executions in the United States from 1608 to 2009

Executions in the United States from 1930 to 2009

Total number of prisoners on Death Row in the United States from 1953 to 2008

Since 1642 (in the 13 colonies, the UnitedStates under the Articles of Confederation,and the current United States) an estimated364 juvenile offenders have been put todeath by states and the federal government.The earliest known execution of a prisonerfor crimes committed as a juvenile wasThomas Graunger in 1642. Twenty-two ofthe executions occurred after 1976, in sevenstates. Due to the slow process of appeals, itwas highly unusual for a condemned personto be under 18 at the time of execution. Theyoungest person to be executed in the 20thcentury was George Stinney, electrocuted inSouth Carolina at the age of 14, June 16,1944. The last execution of a juvenile mayhave been Leonard Shockley, who died inthe Maryland gas chamber April 10, 1959,at the age of 17. No one has been under age19 at time of execution since at least1964.[56] [57] Since the reinstatement of thedeath penalty in 1976, 22 people have beenexecuted for crimes committed under theage of 18. 21 were 17 at the time of thecrime. The last person to be executed for acrime committed as a juvenile was ScottHain April 3, 2003 in Oklahoma.[58]

Before 2005, of the 38 U.S. states that allowcapital punishment:• 19 states and the federal government had

set a minimum age of 18,• 5 states had set a minimum age of 17,

and• 14 states had explicitly set a minimum

age of 16, or were subject to the SupremeCourt's imposition of that minimum.

16 was held to be the minimum permissibleage in the 1988 Supreme Court of the United States decision of Thompson v. Oklahoma. The Supreme Court,considering the case Roper v. Simmons, in March 2005, found execution of juvenile offenders unconstitutional by a5–4 margin, effectively raising the minimum permissible age to 18. State laws have not been updated to conformwith this decision. Under the US system, unconstitutional laws do not need to be repealed, but are instead held to beunenforceable. (See also List of juvenile offenders executed in the United States)

Capital punishment in the United States 14

Distribution of sentencesWithin the context of the overall murder rate, the death penalty cannot be said to be widely or routinely used in theUnited States; in recent years the average has been about one execution for about every 700 murders committed, or 1execution for about every 325 murder convictions.Among genders, only 0.9% of those executed since 1976 have been women.

Among those sentencedIt is noted that the death penalty is sought and applied more often in some jurisdictions, not only between states butwithin states. A 2004 Cornell University study showed that while 2.5% of murderers convicted nationwide weresentenced to the death penalty, in Nevada 6% were given the death penalty.[59] Texas gave 2% of murderers thedeath sentence, less than the national average. Texas, however, executed 40% of those sentenced, which was aboutfour times higher than the national average. California had executed only 1% of those sentenced.

Among racesAfrican Americans made up 41% of death row inmates while making up only 12% of the general population. (Theyhave made up 34% of those actually executed since 1976.)[60] However, that number is lower than that of prisoninmates, which is 47%[61] U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that African-Americans constituted 48 percentof adults charged with homicide, but only 41 percent of those sentenced of death.[62]

According to a 2003 Amnesty International report, Africans and Europeans were the victims of murder in almostequal numbers, yet 80% of the people executed since 1977 were convicted of murders involving white victims.[60]

Because those sentenced to death often don't know their victims (e.g., killing during rape or robbery), their victim islikely to be European.[62]

A summary of executions in Texas since 1982 concludes:[31]

• White (216) (46%, pop. ~80%)• Black (172) (37%, pop. ~12%)• Latin (78) (16%, pop. ~16%)• Asian (2) (0.4%, pop. ~5%)(Percentage totals exceed 100% due to mixed race.)

Public vs. private executionThe last public execution in America was that of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, on August 14, 1936. Itwas the last death sentence in the nation at which the general public was permitted to attend without anylegally-imposed restrictions. "Public execution" is a legal phrase, defined by the laws of various states, and carriedout pursuant to a court order. Similar to "public record" or "public meeting," it means that anyone who wants toattend the execution may do so.About 1890, a political movement developed in the United States to mandate private executions. Several statesenacted laws which required executions to be conducted within a "wall" or "enclosure" to "exclude public view." Forexample, in 1919, the Missouri legislature adopted a statute (L.1919, p. 781) which required, "the sentence of deathshould be executed within the county jail, if convenient, and otherwise within an enclosure near the jail." TheMissouri law permitted the local sheriff to distribute passes to individuals (usually local citizens) who he believedshould witness the hanging, but the sheriffs—for various reasons—sometimes denied passes to individuals whowanted to watch. Missouri executions conducted after 1919 were not "public" because they were conducted behindclosed walls, and the general public was not permitted to attend.

Capital punishment in the United States 15

Present-day statutes from across the nation use the same words and phrases, requiring modern executions to takeplace within a wall or enclosure to exclude public view. Connecticut (CGSA 54-100) requires death sentences to beconducted in an "enclosure" which "shall be so constructed as to exclude public view." Kentucky (KRS 431.220) andMissouri (VAMS 546.730) statutes contain substantially identical language. New Mexico's statute (NMSA31-14-12) requires executions be conducted in a "room or place enclosed from public view." A dormantMassachusetts law (MGLA. 279 § 60) requires executions to take place "within an enclosure or building." NorthCarolina (NCGSA § 15-188) requires death sentences to be executed "within the walls" of the penitentiary, as doOklahoma (22 Okl.St.Ann. § 1015) and Montana (MCA 46-19-103). Ohio (RC § 2949.22) requires, "The enclosureshall exclude public view." Similarly, Tennessee (TCA § 40-23-116) requires "an enclosure" for "strict seclusion andprivacy." Federal law (18 U.S.C.A. § 3596 and 28 CFR 26.3) specifically limits the witnesses to be present at anexecution.Today, there are always witnesses to executions—sometimes numerous witnesses, but it is the law, not the numberof witnesses present, which determines whether the execution is "public."All of the executions which have taken place since the 1936 hanging of Bethea in Owensboro have been conductedwithin a wall or enclosure. For example, Fred Adams was legally hanged in Kennett, Missouri, on April 2, 1937,within a 10-foot (3 m) wooden stockade. Roscoe "Red" Jackson was hanged within a stockade in Galena, Missouri,on May 26, 1937. Two Kentucky hangings were conducted after Galena in which numerous persons were presentwithin a wooden stockade, that of John "Peter" Montjoy in Covington, Kentucky on December 17, 1937, and that ofHarold Van Venison in Covington on June 3, 1938. An estimated 400 witnesses were present for the hanging of LeeSimpson in Ryegate, Montana, on December 30, 1939. The execution of Timothy McVeigh on June 11, 2001, waswitnessed by some 300 people (some by closed circuit television).

Clemency and commutationsThe largest number of clemencies was granted in January 2003 in Illinois, when outgoing Governor George Ryan,who had already imposed a moratorium on executions, pardoned four death-row inmates and commuted thesentences of the remaining 167 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.[63] When Governor Pat Quinnsigned legislation abolishing the death penalty in Illinois in March 2011, he commuted the sentences of the fifteeninmates on death row to life imprisonment.[27]

Previous post-Furman mass clemencies took place in 1986 in New Mexico, when Governor Toney Anaya commutedall death sentences because of his personal opposition to the death penalty. In 1991 outgoing Ohio Governor DickCeleste commuted the sentences of eight prisoners, among them all four women on the state's death row. And duringhis two terms (1979–1987) as Florida Governor, Bob Graham, although a strong death penalty supporter who hadoverseen the first post-Furman involuntary execution as well as 15 others, agreed to commute the sentences of sixpeople on grounds of "possible innocence" or "disproportionality."

Suicide on death rowThe suicide rate of death row inmates was found by Lester and Tartaro to be 113 per 100,000 for the period1976–1999. This is about ten times the rate of suicide in the United States as a whole and about six times the rate ofsuicide in the general U.S. prison population.[64]

Current moratoria and de-facto moratoriaSince the reinstatement of the death penalty, Kansas and New Hampshire have had no execution, Pennsylvania hasexecuted three men, and South Dakota has executed one man, but all four executions were their own wish. However,in 2010, bills to abolish the death penalty in Kansas and in South Dakota were rejected, and New Hampshire evenexpanded its death-penalty law in 2011.

Capital punishment in the United States 16

Democratic Governor Parris N. Glendening halted executions in the state of Maryland by executive order on May 9,2002, but the subsequent Republican governor, Robert Ehrlich, resumed executions in 2004. However, on December19, 2006, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that state executions would be suspended until the manual that spellsout the protocol for lethal injections is reviewed by a legislative panel. The state's Department of Corrections hadadopted the manual without having a public hearing or submitting it before a committee. Legislative review of theprotocol is required before approval under state law.In North Carolina, a de-facto moratorium is in place following a decision by the state's medical board that physicianscannot participate in executions, which is a requirement under state and federal law.In California, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in the state of Californiaon December 15, 2006, ruling that the implementation used in California was unconstitutional but that it could befixed.[65]

In Nebraska, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled, on February 8, 2008, that the use of the electric chair isunconstitutional—specifically, that its use conflicts with the Nebraska Constitution. As electrocution was the solelegally authorized method of execution in Nebraska, the state had what technically amounts to no legally authorizeddeath penalty,[66] until the introduction of lethal injection in that state in May 2009.[67]

After the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Baze v. Rees many states had slowed or halted executions aslawyers for death-row prisoners argued that states should not carry out death sentences using a method that may beruled unconstitutional. While executions had come to an apparent stop until Baze was examined by the court, thiswas not the intent, according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who stated on October 16, 2007 that stoppingall executions by that method was not the high court's intention when it agreed to hear Baze. Just because the justicesagreed to take on the case, Scalia said, does not necessarily mean that a moratorium should ensue.[68]

On November 25, 2009, the Kentucky Supreme Court placed a moratorium on executions until it adopts regulationsfor carrying out the penalty by lethal injection.[69]

External resources

Pro-death penalty• Off2DR (http:/ / www. off2dr. com)• Pro Death Penalty.com (http:/ / www. prodeathpenalty. com/ )• Josh Marquis, the justice system, politics and the media (http:/ / www. coastda. com/ archives. html)• Clark County, IN Prosecutor's Page on capital punishment (http:/ / www. clarkprosecutor. org/ html/ death/ death.

htm)• In Favor of Capital Punishment (http:/ / www. capital-punishment. net) - Quotes supporting Capital Punishment

by Saqib Ali• The Ultimate Punishment (http:/ / www. pbs. org/ wgbh/ pages/ frontline/ angel/ procon/ haagarticle. html) - A

professor defends the death penalty• Is man a moral agent? (http:/ / www. str. org/ site/ News2?page=NewsArticle& id=5163) - Ethics of capital

punishment• A defense of the death penalty (http:/ / www. hoshuha. com/ articles/ deathpenalty. html)• Death Penalty Information (http:/ / www. dpinfo. com/ ) - News, arguments and links• Criminal Justice Legal Foundation (http:/ / www. cjlf. org/ deathpenalty/ DPinformation. htm) Articles on the

death penalty, and deterrence

Capital punishment in the United States 17

Anti-death penalty• Death Penalty Information Center (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org)• National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (http:/ / ncadp. org)• Fight the death penalty in America (http:/ / www. fdp. dk)• Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (http:/ / tcadp. org)• Texas Moratorium Network (http:/ / www. texasmoratorium. org)• The Innocence Project (http:/ / www. innocenceproject. org/ )• Truth in Justice (http:/ / www. truthinjustice. org/ )• Amnesty International USA campaign to abolish the death penalty (http:/ / www. amnestyusa. org/ abolish/ index.

do)• Against the Death Penalty (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyreligious. org/ ) — Religious Organization• Death Penalty Focus (http:/ / www. deathpenalty. org/ )

Question of racial bias• Reporting a study finding no intentional racial bias (http:/ / archives. cnn. com/ 2001/ LAW/ 06/ 06/ justice. death.

garza/ ) - CNN Law Center archives

More information• " U.S. Army Corrections System: Procedures for Military Executions (http:/ / www. fas. org/ irp/ doddir/ army/

r190_55. pdf)" - Department of the Army• About.com's Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty and Capital Punishment (Liberal Viewpoint) (http:/ / usliberals.

about. com/ od/ deathpenalty/ i/ DeathPenalty. htm)• Last Meals on Death Row (http:/ / www. deadmaneating. com/ dmearch. html)• The documentary Procedure 769, witness to an execution DocsOnline (http:/ / www. docsonline. tv/ ) focuses on

the people who witness an execution, specifically that of Robert Alton Harris who murdered two boys in 1978.

References[1] "DARYL RENARD ATKINS, PETITIONER v. VIRGINIA" (http:/ / supct. law. cornell. edu/ supct/ html/ 00-8452. ZO. html). June 20,

2002. . Retrieved August 6, 2006.[2] List of Defendants with Mental Retardation Executed in the United States | Death Penalty Information Center (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo.

org/ list-defendants-mental-retardation-executed-united-states)[3] "Illinois poised to abolish death penalty" (http:/ / www. reuters. com/ article/ 2011/ 01/ 11/

us-executions-illinois-idUSTRE70A6G920110111). Reuters. January 11, 2011. .[4] Governor Rell Vetoes HB 6578, An Act Concerning the Penalty for a Capital Felony (http:/ / www. ct. gov/ governorrell/ cwp/ view.

asp?A=3675& Q=441204) (Press release). State of Connecticut. June 5, 2009. . Retrieved March 9, 2011. "Governor M. Jodi Rell todayvetoed HB 6578, An Act Concerning the Penalty for a Capital Felony, which sought to eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option inConnecticut.".

[5] Connecticut Activists Seek to Abolish the Death Penalty, and Gov. Malloy Says He'll Sign the Bill if it Lands on His Desk, HartfordAdvocate Feb 15, 2011 (http:/ / www. hartfordadvocate. com/ featured-news/connecticut-activists-seek-to-abolish-the-death-penalty-and-gov-malloy-says-hell-sign-the-bull-if-it-lands-on-his-desk-060168)

[6] "“Unpredictable Doom and Lethal Injustice: An Argument for Greater Transparency in Death Penalty Decisions”" (http:/ / journalistsresource.org/ studies/ government/ criminal-justice/ transparency-death-penalty/ ). Journalist's Resource.org. .

[7] Death Penalty for Offenses Other Than Murder http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ article. php?& did=2347, Death Penalty InformationCenter, 2008, accessed January 28, 2008

[8] Florida styles what would be common law rape as "sexual battery." Sexual batteries which could receive the death penalty if Kennedy v.Louisiana were overturned are found in The 2009 Florida Statutes § 794.011(2)(a) & (8)(c), available at http:/ / www. leg. state. fl. us/Statutes/ index. cfm

[9] See The 2009 Florida Statutes § 782.04(1)(a)(3), available at http:/ / www. leg. state. fl. us/ Statutes/ index. cfm[10] Legislative Information (http:/ / www. leginfo. ca. gov/ cgi-bin/ displaycode?section=pen& group=00001-01000& file=217. 1-219. 3)[11] Communications Office (http:/ / www. corr. ca. gov/ CommunicationsOffice/ CapitalPunishment/ history_of_capital. asp) of California.[12] The ESPY file (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ ESPYdate. pdf) for James Coburn

Capital punishment in the United States 18

[13] Mears, Bill (June 25, 2008). "Child rapists can't be executed, Supreme Court rules" (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2008/ CRIME/ 06/ 25/ scotus.child. rape/ index. html). CNN. . Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[14] Greenhouse, Linda (June 26, 2008). "Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2008/ 06/ 26/washington/ 26scotuscnd. html). The New York Times. . Retrieved March 11, 2011. "The court went beyond the question in the case to rule outthe death penalty for any individual crime — as opposed to “offenses against the state,” such as treason or espionage — “where the victim’slife was not taken.”"

[15] Browse Caselaw (http:/ / www. lawskills. com/ case/ ga/ id/ 1652/ )[16] http:/ / www. dcor. state. ga. us/ GDC/ OffenderQuery/ jsp/ OffQryRedirector. jsp Click "Offender Search" at the top. Search for "Sears,

Demarcus" in the name search.[17] Berry, Irene; O'Hare, Sheila and Silva, Jesse (2006). Legal Executions in California: A Comprehensive Registry, 1851-2005. McFarland &

Company, Inc., Publishers, p. 61.[18] The Sad Story of Private Eddie Slovik (http:/ / www. 28-110-k. org/ sad_story_of_private_eddie_slovi. html)[19] Berry, Irene; O'Hare, Sheila and Silva, Jesse (2006). Legal Executions in California: A Comprehensive Registry, 1851-2005. McFarland &

Company, Inc., Publishers, p. 10.[20] (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20090512175820/ http:/ / users. bestweb. net/ ~rg/ execution/ RAPE. htm)[21] Record Book of Col John Todd (http:/ / genealogytrails. com/ ill/ randolph/ coljohntodd. htm)[22] See, e.g., Hill v. McDonough.[23] See generally Separation of powers.[24] See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 3595. (http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ uscode/ html/ uscode18/ usc_sec_18_00003595----000-. html) ("In a case in

which a sentence of death is imposed, the sentence shall be subject to review by the court of appeals upon appeal by the defendant."[25] See generally Appeal.[26] Poland v. Arizona, 476 U.S. 147 152-54 (1986) (http:/ / supreme. justia. com/ us/ 476/ 147/ case. html).[27] Eric M. Freedman, "Giarratano is a Scarecrow: The Right to Counsel in State Postconviction Proceedings, Legalize Drugs" 91 Cornell L.

Rev. 1079, 1097 (2006).[28] Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 306 (1989) (http:/ / supreme. justia. com/ us/ 489/ 288/ case. html).[29] LaFave, Israel, & King, 6 Crim. Proc. § 28.11(b) (2d ed. 2007).[30] LaFave, Israel, & King, 6 Crim. Proc. § 28.11(a) (2d ed. 2007).[31] Eric M. Freedman, "Giarratano is a Scarecrow: The Right to Counsel in State Postconviction Proceedings," 91 Cornell L. Rev. 1079, 1097

(2006).[32] House v. Bell, 126 S. Ct. 2064 (2006)[33] "Habeas Corpus Studies" (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage. html?res=9C05E0DB1039F932A35757C0A960958260). The New

York Times. April 1, 1996. . Retrieved April 28, 2010.[34] frontline: the execution: readings: the new speed-up in habeas corpus appeals (http:/ / www. pbs. org/ wgbh/ pages/ frontline/ shows/

execution/ readings/ speed. html)[35] see 28 U.S.C. § 2255.[36] Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). (http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ supct/ html/ 93-6188. ZS. html)[37] The Espy File (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ ESPYdate. pdf)[38] MSU website page on Death Penalty information (http:/ / deathpenaltyinfo. msu. edu/ c/ states/ stats/ utah. htm)[39] Nebraska court bans the electric chair (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2008/ CRIME/ 02/ 08/ nebraska. electrocution/ index. html)[40] NY Times article: Electrocution Is Banned in Last State to Rely on It (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2008/ 02/ 09/ us/ 09penalty. html)[41] Nebraska Supreme Court opinion (http:/ / www. supremecourt. ne. gov/ opinions/ 2008/ february/ feb8/ s05-1268. pdf)[42] Death Penalty Info Fact Sheet (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ documents/ FactSheet. pdf).[43] NAACPLDF DRUSA (http:/ / www. naacpldf. org/ content/ pdf/ pubs/ drusa/ DRUSA_Spring_2006. pdf), Spring 2006.[44] State-by-state methods of execution (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ article. php?scid=8& did=245#state). Retrieved February 4, 2009.[45] New Hampshire Laws, TITLE LXII: Criminal Code, Chapter 630: Homicide, Section 630:5, Procedure in Capital Murder. – Clause XIV.

From statutes 1974, 34:10. 1977, 440:2. 1986, 82:1. 1990, 199:3, eff. Jan. 1, 1991. Found at General Court of New Hampshire State Officialwebsite (http:/ / www. gencourt. state. nh. us/ rsa/ html/ lxii/ 630/ 630-5. htm). Retrieved February 4, 2009.

[46] Revised Code of Washington, RCW 10.95.180 (Title 10, Chapter 10.95, Section 10.95.180) "Death penalty — How executed." Found atWashington State Legislature Official website (http:/ / apps. leg. wa. gov/ RCW/ default. aspx?cite=10. 95. 180). Retrieved February 4, 2009.

[47] ReligiousTolerance (http:/ / www. religioustolerance. org/ execut7. htm)[48] (http:/ / www. fiqhcouncil. org/ Articles/ GeneralFiqhIssues/ tabid/ 170/ ctl/ Detail/ mid/ 569/ xmid/ 4/ xmfid/ 1/ Default. aspx)[49] Adam Lipak (January 4, 2010). "Group Gives Up Death Penalty Work" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2010/ 01/ 05/ us/ 05bar. html). New

York Times. .[50] "Innocence: List of Those Freed From Death Row" (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ innocence-list-those-freed-death-row). Death

Penalty Information Center. October 28, 2010. . Retrieved March 11, 2011.[51] Pitkin, James (January 23, 2008). "Killing Time Dead Men Waiting on Oregon’s Death Row" (http:/ / wweek. com/ editorial/ 3411/ 10288/

). Willamette Week. . Retrieved March 11, 2011.[52] Experts Agree: Death Penalty Not A Deterrent To Violent Crime, http:/ / news. ufl. edu/ 1997/ 01/ 15/ death1/ , January 15, 1997, accessed

September 27, 2007

Capital punishment in the United States 19

[53] American Justice Volume 1[54] Letter - Cost of the Death Penalty (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2009/ 03/ 01/ opinion/ l01death. html)[55] STUDY: COST SAVINGS FROM REPEAL OF DEATH PENALTY MAY BE ELUSIVE (http:/ / www. cjlf. org/ releases/ 09-05. htm)[56] Best Web (http:/ / users. bestweb. net/ ~rg/ execution. htm)[57] Juvenile News and Developments - Previous Years (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ article. php?scid=27& did=206)[58] Execution of Juveniles in the U.S. and other Countries (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/ article. php?scid=27& did=203#execsus)[59] "Explaining Death Row's Population and Racial Composition," The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies John Blume, Theodore Eisenberg

and Martin Wells, March 2004, cited in Cornell Press release (http:/ / www. news. cornell. edu/ releases/ Feb04/ Death. row. demo. lm. html)[60] United States of America: Death by discrimination - the continuing role of race in capital cases. | Amnesty International (http:/ / web.

amnesty. org/ library/ index/ engamr510462003)[61] Death Penalty in Black and White (http:/ / www. prodeathpenalty. com/ racism. htm) (1999 figures).[62] (http:/ / www. iacj. org/ Journal2008. htm))[63] Illinois Death Row Inmates Granted Commutation by Governor George Ryan on January 12, 2003 (http:/ / www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/

node/ 677)[64] "Suicide on death row", David Lester and Christine Tartaro, Journal of Forensic Sciences, ISSN 0022-1198, 2002, vol. 47, no5, pp.

1108-1111[65] Judge says executions unconstitutional (http:/ / news. yahoo. com/ s/ ap/ 20061215/ ap_on_re_us/ california_death_penalty)[66] "Nebraska Supreme Court says electrocution unconstitutional" (http:/ / www. omaha. com/ index. php?u_page=2798& u_sid=10253709),

Omaha World-Hearld (online edition), February 8, 2008.[67] Volentine, Jason (2009-05-28). "Nebraska Changes Execution Method to Lethal Injection" (http:/ / www. kolnkgin. com/ political/

headlines/ 46424547. html). KOLN. . Retrieved 2009-05-30.[68] Gramlich, John (October 18, 2007). "Lethal injection moratorium inches closer" (http:/ / www. stateline. org/ live/ details/

story?contentId=249581). Stateline.org. . Retrieved October 18, 2007.[69] Decision halts lethal injections | Latest Local, State News | Kentucky.com (http:/ / www. kentucky. com/ news/ local/ story/ 1035605. html)

Further reading• Bakken, Gordon Morris, ed. Invitation to an Execution: A History of the Death Penalty in the United States

(University of New Mexico Press; 2010) 467 pages• Banner, Stuart (2002). The Death Penalty: An American History (http:/ / books. google. com/

books?id=FzayhpsWJ5oC& printsec=frontcover& source=gbs_ge_summary_r& cad=0#v=onepage& q&f=false). Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00751-4.

• Delfino, Michelangelo and Mary E. Day. (2007). Death Penalty USA 2005 - 2006 (http:/ / books. google. com/books?id=xJ8bZFKoe1cC& printsec=frontcover& source=gbs_ge_summary_r& cad=0#v=onepage& q& f=false)MoBeta Publishing, Tampa, Florida. ISBN 978-0-9725141-2-5; and Death Penalty USA 2003 - 2004 (2008).MoBeta Publishing, Tampa, Florida. ISBN 978-0-9725141-3-2.

• Dow, David R., Dow, Mark (eds.) (2002). Machinery of Death: The Reality of America's Death Penalty Regime(http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=NiXm_7mA9VQC& printsec=frontcover& source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage& q& f=false). Routledge, New York. ISBN 0-415-93266-1 (cloth), ISBN 0-415-93267-X(paperback) (this book provides critical perspectives on the death penalty; it contains a foreword by ChristopherHitchens)

• Megivern, James J. (1997), The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey (http:/ / books. google.com/ books?id=lG-a_RBO8VgC& printsec=frontcover& source=gbs_ge_summary_r& cad=0#v=onepage& q&f=false). Paulist Press, New York. ISBN 0-8091-0487-3

• Osler, Mark William (2009). Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment.Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-0-687-64756-9

• Prejean, Helen (1993). Dead Man Walking. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75131-9 (paperback)(Describes the case of death row convict Elmo Patrick Sonnier, while also giving a general overview of issuesconnected to the Death Penalty.)

Article Sources and Contributors 20

Article Sources and ContributorsCapital punishment in the United States  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=451830546  Contributors: (jarbarf), 100cosburn, 829elm, A E Francis, A.K.A.47, ABF,AEMoreira042281, AGK, AStudent, ATrain77, Aaron north, Aatomic1, Aclick, ActiveSelective, Adambro, Adamrush, Adashiel, Addshore, Aenimiac, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Alansohn, Aleenf1,Alerante, Alexwcovington, Alf.laylah.wa.laylah, Alfred phenom, Ali'i, Alienus, Alimonious, Allon Fambrizzi, Andreworkney, Andy Marchbanks, AndyBQ, Andyjsmith, Angel74dm, Angela,Angeldeb82, Anna Lincoln, AnonMoos, Antandrus, Antonrojo, Apdevries, AppleNick, Appraiser, Arancaytar, Armando, Arthena, Asiir, Atifshaikh, Aude, Audigex, Auntof6, AussieLegend,Axios023, Aymatth2, Azcolvin429, Azoetrope, B. 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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Death penalty statutes in the United States-2011-10-03.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Death_penalty_statutes_in_the_United_States-2011-10-03.svg  License:Public Domain  Contributors: Death_penalty_statutes_in_the_United_States.svg: Normal View derivative work: Normal View (talk)File:HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: NickDiFonzo from Houston, TexasFile:US executions.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:US_executions.png  License: Creative Commons Zero  Contributors: Chris55File:RedHatsExecutionChamber.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:RedHatsExecutionChamber.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: Lee Honeycutt from Angola, LA, USAFile:Map of US lethal injection usage.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_of_US_lethal_injection_usage.svg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike2.5  Contributors: Lokal_ProfilFile:Methods of executions in the United States.PNG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Methods_of_executions_in_the_United_States.PNG  License: Public domain Contributors: Evil Monkey, TimeshifterFile:Executions in the United States from 1608 (new).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Executions_in_the_United_States_from_1608_(new).png  License: PublicDomain  Contributors: Quo RFile:Executions in the United States (new).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Executions_in_the_United_States_(new).png  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Quo RFile:Death sentences United States (new).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Death_sentences_United_States_(new).png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Quo R

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