Death Penalty

Prohibits excessive bail and finesProhibits cruel and unusual punishment

AMENDMENT 8

This case led to a 4-year moratorium (delay/suspension) on death penalty sentencesCapital punishment varied for each stateLed to two phases:

1) Jury decides if defendant is guilty of murder2) Jury hears new evidence to determine if the death penalty is warranted

AMENDMENT 8:Furman v. GA (1972)

The Supreme Court held that the death penalty was not considered cruel and unusual punishment

AMENDMENT 8:Gregg v. GA (1976)

The 8th Amendment forbids executing people for crimes they committed when they were under 16

AMENDMENT 8:Thompson v. OK (1988)

Date NameAge at execution

Age at offense

Gender State Method

1 01985-09-11September 11 Rumbaugh, Charles Francis 28 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

2 01986-01-10January 10 Roach, James Terry 25 17 Male South Carolina Electrocution

3 01986-05-15May 15, 1986 Pinkerton, Jay Kelly 24 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

4 01990-05-18May 18, 1990 Prejean, Dalton 30 17 Male Louisiana Electrocution

5 01992-02-11February 11 Garrett, Johnny Frank 28 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

6 01993-07-01July 1, 1993 Harris, Curtis Paul 31 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

7 01993-07-28July 28, 1993 Lasley, Frederick 29 17 Male Missouri Lethal injection

8 01993-08-24August 24, Cantu, Ruben Montoya 26 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

9 01993-12-07December 7 Burger, Christopher 33 17 Male Georgia Electrocution

10 01998-04-24April 24, 1998 Cannon, Joseph John 38 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

11 01998-05-18May 18, 1998 Carter, Robert Anthony 34 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

12 01998-10-14October 14, Wright, Dwayne Allen 24 17 Male Virginia Lethal injection

13 01999-02-04February 4, Sellers, Sean Richard 29 16 Male Oklahoma Lethal injection

14 02000-01-10January 10 Thomas, Douglas Christopher 26 17 Male Virginia Lethal injection

15 02000-01-13January 13 Roach, Steve Edward 23 17 Male Virginia Lethal injection

16 02000-01-25January 25 McGinnis, Glen Charles 27 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

17 02000-06-22June 22, 2000 Graham, Gary Lee 36 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

18 02001-10-22October 22 Mitchell, Gerald Lee 33 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

19 02002-05-28May 28, 2002 Beazley, Napoleon 25 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

20 02002-08-08August 8 Jones, T. J.T. J. Jones 25 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

21 02002-08-28August 28 Patterson, Toronto Markkey 24 17 Male Texas Lethal injection

22 02003-04-03April 3, 2003 Hain, Scott Allen 32 17 Male Oklahoma Lethal injection

Overruled the Thompson case and held that crimes committed before 18 could not be used for the death penalty Prior to this decision, 22 juveniles had been executed since 1976

AMENDMENT 8:Roper v. Simmons (2005)

State# of

InmatesState

# of Inmates

State# of

Inmates

California 721 S. Carolina 63 Connecticut 10

Florida 398 U.S. Gov't 61 Utah 9

Texas 321 Mississippi 60 Kansas 9

Penn. 219 Missouri 50 Washington 9

Alabama 206 Arkansas 43 U.S. Military 6

N. Carolina 165 Kentucky 36 Maryland 5

Ohio 159 Oregon 34 Colorado 4

Arizona 138 Delaware 20 South Dakota 3

Georgia 103 Idaho 16 Montana 2

Tennessee 87 Illinois** 16 New Mexico* 2

Louisiana 86 Indiana 14 Wyoming 1

Nevada 81 Nebraska 12New Hampshire

1

Oklahoma 77 Virginia 11

Executed Person Date of Execution Victim (s) Under Governor

1 Robert Alton Harris April 21, 1992 John Mayeski and Michael Baker

Wilson

2 David Edwin Mason August 24, 1993Joan Picard, Arthur Jennings, Boyd Johnson, Antionette Brown, and Dorothy Land

3 William George Bonin February 23, 1996

Marcus Grabs, Donald Hyden, David Murillo, Dennis Frank Fox, Charles Miranda, James McCabe, Ronald Gatlin, Harry Todd Turner, Russell Rugh, Glenn Barker, Steven Wood, Darin Lee Kendrick, Lawrence Sharp, and Steven Jay Wells

4 Keith Daniel Williams May 31, 1996 Lourdes Meza, Miguel Vargas and Salvador Vargas

5 Thomas Martin Thompson July 14, 1998 Ginger Fleischli

6 Jaturun Siripongs February 9, 1999 Packovan Wattanporn and Quach Nguyen

Davis

7 Manuel Pina Babbitt May 4, 1999 Leah Schendel

8 Darrell Keith Rich March 15, 2000Annette Fay Edwards, Patricia Ann Moore, Linda Diane Slovik, and Annette Lynn Selix

9 Robert Lee Massie March 27, 2001 Boris G. Naumoff

10 Stephen Wayne Anderson January 29, 2002 Elizabeth Lyman

11 Donald Jay Beardslee January 19, 2005 Stacey Benjamin and Patty Geddling

Schwarzenegger12 Stanley Tookie Williams December 13, 2005 Albert Owens, Yen-Yi Yang, Tsai-Shai Lin, and Yee-Chen Lin

13 Clarence Ray Allen January 17, 2006 Bryon Schletewitz, Josephine Rocha, and Douglas White

California Death Row: Number of Executions Since 1976

As of 2012, there are 721 offenders (including 19 women) on California's death row.Of those, 126 involved torture before murder, 173 killed children, and 44 murdered police officers.Because California's death penalty was enacted through the voter-initiative process, the only way to replace it is through a voter-approved ballot measure. An attempt to remove the death penalty in 2012, Proposition 34, was defeated with 53% of the vote against it.

California Death Row

Method # of executions by method since 1976

# of states authorizing method

Jurisdictions that Authorize

Lethal Injection 1143 (incl. 36 by one-drug protocol)

35 states + U.S. Military and U.S. Gov't

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut*, Delaware, Florida,

Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri,

Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico*, North Carolina, Ohio,

Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,

Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government

*New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. However, the law wasn't retroactive,

leaving two people on the state's death row. Connecticut abolished the death penalty in

2012. However, the law wasn't retroactive, leaving 11 people on the state's death row.

Electrocution 157 9 states (all have lethal injection as primary method)

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, [Oklahoma], South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

Gas Chamber 11 4 states (all have lethal injection as primary method)

Arizona, California, Missouri, [Wyoming]

Hanging 3 2 states (all have lethal injection as primary method)

New Hampshire, Washington

Firing Squad 3 1 state (all have lethal injection as primary method)

[Oklahoma], Utah

Utah no longer offers the firing squad as an option, but would allow it only for inmates

who chose this method prior to its elimination .

Oklahoma offers firing squad only if lethal injection and electrocution are found

unconstitutional.