Death Penalty

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: The death penalty provides the justice and closure families and victims deserve.
- Pro 2: The death penalty prevents additional crime.
- Pro 3: The death penalty is the only moral and just punishment for the worst crimes.
Pro Quotes
Cons
- Con 1: Not only is the death penalty not a deterrent to crime, it is very expensive.
- Con 2: The death penalty is steeped in poor legal assistance and racial bias.
- Con 3: The death penalty is immoral and amounts to torture.
Con Quotes
Religious Perspectives on the Death Penalty
- Assemblies of God: Not Clearly Pro or Con
- Buddhism: Not Clearly Pro or Con
- Roman Catholic Church: Con
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism): Not Clearly Pro or Con
- Conservative Judaism: Con
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Con
- Episcopal Church: Con
- Hinduism: Not Clearly Pro or Con
- Islam: Pro
- Orthodox Judaism: Con
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Con
- Reconstructionist Judaism: Con
- Reform Judaism: Con
- Southern Baptist Convention: Pro
- Unitarian Universalist Association: Con
- United Church of Christ: Con
- United Methodist Church: Con
International Death Penalty Status
U.S. Federal Capital Offenses
International and U.S. Legal Methods of Execution
State-by-State Legal Methods of Execution
State-by-State Executions by Method: 1977–2019
States with the Death Penalty, Death Penalty Bans, and Death Penalty Moratoriums
- History of Death Penalty Laws by State
Death Row Inmates
- Number of Death Row Inmates, Year of Capital Sentencing, and Average Years on Death Row, Dec. 31, 2020
- Inmate Time on Death Row from Sentencing to Execution, 1953–2020
- Death Row Inmate Demographics, 2020
- Death Row Inmate Criminal History, 2020
- Removals from Death Row
Most Recent Executions in Each U.S. State
Historical Timeline
- 1700 bce–1799 ce
  - 1700s bce: Code of Hammurabi Codifies the Death Penalty for the First Time
  - 1608: First Recorded Execution in the British American Colonies Was for Treason
  - 1682: Pennsylvania Limits Crimes Punishable by Death to Treason and Murder
  - 1764: Italian Jurist Presents a Critique of the Death Penalty That Influences Abolitionists
  - 1775: Death Penalty Used in All 13 American Colonies at Outbreak of American Revolution
  - Nov. 30 1786: Grand Duchy of Tuscany Bans Death Penalty
  - 1787: Founding Fathers Allow for Death Penalty When Writing Constitution
  - 1787: At Least One Declaration of Independence Signer Is Against the Death Penalty
  - Apr. 30, 1790: First U.S. Congress Establishes Federal Death Penalty
  - June 25, 1790: First Person Executed under U.S. Federal Death Penalty
  - 1793: Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Introduces Concept of Varying Degrees of Murder, Contributing to Softening of Death Penalty Laws
- 1800–1944
  - 1833–1835: Public Executions Are Attacked as Cruel, Prompting U.S. States to Switch to Private Hangings
  - Jan.–Feb. 1843: Reverend George Barrel Cheever and Abolitionist John O’Sullivan Debate Capital Punishment in New York
  - 1845: First National Death Penalty Abolition Society Is Formed
  - 1846: Michigan Becomes the First U.S. State to Abolish Capital Punishment for All Crimes Except Treason
  - 1852: Rhode Island Becomes the First State to Outlaw the Death Penalty for All Crimes
  - July 9, 1868: 14th Amendment Is Ratified
  - 1887–1903: Thomas Edison Demonstrates Power of Electricity by Electrocuting Animals
  - Aug. 6, 1890: New York State Performs the First Execution by Electrocution with the Assistance of Thomas Edison’s Engineers
  - 1895–1917: Nine States Abolish Capital Punishment During Second Great Reform Era
  - May 2, 1910: Weems v. United States Establishes Precedents on “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”
  - Feb. 8, 1924: First U.S. Execution by Gas Chamber Carried Out in Nevada
  - Mar. 1, 1932: Lindbergh Act Makes Kidnapping a Federal Capital Offense
  - Aug. 14, 1936: Last American Public Execution
- 1945–1979
  - Jan. 31, 1945: Private Eddie Slovik Becomes First American Executed for Desertion Since the Civil War
  - Jan. 13, 1947: Supreme Court Finds Second Execution Attempt After Technical Malfunction Does Not Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment
  - June 19, 1953: Rosenbergs Become the First U.S. Civilians Executed for Espionage
  - 1957–1972: Several U.S. States Abolish Capital Punishment
  - June 3, 1968: U.S. Supreme Court Forbids the Dismissal of Jurors Based on Personal Opposition to Capital Punishment
  - June 29, 1972: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Unconstitutional as Administered and Overturns More than 600 Death Sentences
  - Nov. 21, 1974: National Conference of Catholic Bishops Publicly Opposes Death Penalty
  - July 2, 1976: U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Death Penalty
  - Jan. 17, 1977: Gary Gilmore Becomes the First Person to Be Executed in the United States in 10 Years
  - June 29, 1977: U.S. Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty to Be an Excessive Punishment for Rape Crimes
- 1980–1999
  - June 1980: American Medical Association Passes Resolution Saying Physicians Should Not Participate in Executions
  - July 2, 1982: U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Capital Punishment Is Excessive for a Defendant Who Played a Minor Role in a Felony Murder
  - Dec. 7, 1982: Texas Performs First Lethal Injection
  - July 26, 1983: U.S. Supreme Court Approves Streamlined Federal Appeals Procedures for Capital Crimes
  - June 26, 1986: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Execution of “Insane” Persons Unconstitutional
  - Nov. 4, 1986: California Chief Justice Rose Bird Voted Out of Office for Voting Record in Death Penalty Cases
  - Nov. 1987: Study Finds 350 Cases of Defendants Wrongfully Convicted of Capital Crimes
  - June 29, 1988: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Executions of Individuals Under Age of 16 Unconstitutional
  - Apr. 21, 1992: First California Execution in 25 Years Proceeds After U.S. Supreme Court Prevents Lower Courts from Granting Further Stays
  - Jan. 25, 1993: U.S. Supreme Court Rules New Evidence of Innocence Alone Does Not Entitle Prisoners to Be Freed
  - June 28, 1993: Kirk Bloodsworth Becomes First American Sentenced to Death Row to Be Exonerated with DNA Testing
  - 1994: Federal Death Penalty Is Expanded When President Clinton Signs Crime Bill
  - Jan. 12, 1996: Release of the Film Dead Man Walking Invigorates Death Penalty Debate
  - Jan. 25, 1996: Last Execution by Hanging in the United States
  - Apr. 24, 1996: Ability of Judges to Reverse Sentences of Death Row Inmates Is Restricted
  - Feb. 3, 1997: American Bar Association (ABA) Urges a Halt to Executions
  - Mar. 3, 1999: Last Execution by Gas Chamber in United States
- 2000–2009
  - Jan. 31, 2000: Illinois Governor George Ryan Declares a Moratorium on Executions
  - Dec. 21, 2000: Texas and Governor George W. Bush Lead U.S. with Most Executions
  - June 11, 2001: Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh First Federal Prisoner to Be Executed in 38 Years
  - June 20, 2002: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Executing People with Intellectual Disabilities Violates Eighth Amendment
  - June 24, 2002: U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Juries, Not Judges, Must Determine Presence of Aggravating Factors Necessary for a Death Sentence
  - June 24, 2004: Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional in New York
  - Mar. 1, 2005: Death Sentence for Offenders Under the Age of 18 Is Ruled Unconstitutional
  - Dec. 30, 2006: Execution of Saddam Hussein
  - Dec. 18, 2007: United Nations General Assembly Passes a Resolution Calling for a Moratorium on the Death Penalty
  - Apr. 16, 2008: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Lethal Injection Is Constitutional
  - June 25, 2008: U.S. Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty Excessive for the Crime of Child Rape
  - Mar. 18, 2009: New Mexico Repeals the Death Penalty
  - Dec. 8, 2009: Ohio Performs the First Execution with a One-Drug Intravenous Lethal Injection
  - Dec. 18, 2009: Lowest Annual Number of Death Sentences Handed Down in 2009 Since Death Penalty Was Reinstated in 1976
- 2010–present
  - June 18, 2010: Last U.S. Execution by Firing Squad
  - Aug. 2010: Lethal Drug Shortage Delays Executions in Kentucky
  - Sep. 23, 2010: Woman with 72 IQ Executed in Virginia
  - Jan. 21, 2011: Sole Firm Stops Making Key Death Penalty Drug
  - Apr. 25, 2012: Connecticut Repeals the Death Penalty
  - May 2, 2013: Maryland Becomes 18th State to Repeal the Death Penalty
  - Oct. 29, 2013: U.S. Death Penalty Support at Lowest Level in More than 40 Years
  - Feb. 11, 2014: Washington State Governor Suspends the Death Penalty
  - May 22, 2014: Tennessee Passes Law Allowing the State to Electrocute Death Row Inmates
  - July 16, 2014: California’s Death Penalty Violates U.S. Constitution, Rules Federal Judge
  - Feb. 13, 2015: Pennsylvania Governor Declares Death Penalty Moratorium
  - Mar. 23, 2015: Utah Reinstates Use of the Firing Squad for Executions
  - May 27, 2015: Nebraska Legislature Abolishes the Death Penalty
  - June 29, 2015: Supreme Court Upholds Use of Execution Drug Midazolam
  - Aug. 13, 2015: Connecticut Supreme Court Bans the Death Penalty
  - Jan. 12, 2015: U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Florida’s Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional
  - Aug. 2, 2016: Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional in Delaware
  - Nov. 8, 2016: Nebraska Voters Reinstate the Death Penalty
  - Aug. 14, 2018: Synthetic Opioid Fentanyl Used for the First Time in a Lethal-Injection Execution
  - Oct. 11, 2018: Washington Death Penalty Struck Down by State Supreme Court
  - Mar. 13, 2019: California Governor Declares Death Penalty Moratorium
  - May 30, 2019: New Hampshire Abolishes Death Penalty
  - July 25, 2019: U.S. Federal Government to Resume Use of Death Penalty
  - Nov. 25, 2019: Majority of Americans Support Life in Prison Instead of Death Penalty for the First Time in 34 Years
  - Dec. 6, 2019: Supreme Court Keeps Federal Executions on Hold Until Lower Court Ruling
  - Mar. 23, 2020: Colorado Becomes 22nd State to Abolish the Death Penalty
  - Apr. 10, 2020: Health Care Workers Ask States to Release Execution Drugs to Fight COVID-19
  - May 15, 2020: Oregon to Empty Death Row
  - June 29, 2020: Supreme Court Declines to Hear Federal Lethal Injection Protocol Challenge
  - July 14, 2020: First Federal Execution Since 2003
  - Aug. 23, 2020: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Has Killed More U.S. Prisoners in 2020 than the Death Penalty in Two Decades
  - Sep. 24, 2020: U.S. Executes Man for Crime Committed as Teen for First Time in 70 Years
  - Nov. 27, 2020: Trump Administration Pushes New Federal Rule to Allow More Methods of Execution
  - Dec. 4, 2020: COVID-19 Has Killed More U.S. Prisoners in 2020 than the Death Penalty in More than Five Decades
  - Dec. 8, 2020: Ohio Governor Announces Continued “Unofficial Moratorium” on Death Penalty
  - Dec. 16, 2020: Number of Federal Executions Surpasses Total State Executions for First Time, as State Executions Hit Historic Low
  - Jan. 13, 2021: U.S. Federal Government Executed First Woman Since 1953
  - Jan. 16, 2021: U.S. Federal Government Has Executed 13 Inmates Under Trump Administration
  - Mar. 24, 2021: Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty
  - May 14, 2021: South Carolina Legalizes Electric Chair and Firing Squad Executions if Lethal Drugs Are Unavailable
  - July 1, 2021: Attorney General Merrick Garland Imposes Moratorium on Federal Death Penalty
  - July 22, 2021: U.S. Department of Justice Withdraws Death Penalty in Seven Cases
  - Jan. 3, 2023: First Known U.S. Execution of Openly Transgender Person, in Missouri
  - Mar. 24, 2023: Idaho Legalizes Firing Squad as Backup Method of Death Penalty
  - Apr. 20, 2023: Washington Officially Abolishes Death Penalty
  - Jan. 25, 2024: Alabama Carries Out Nation’s First Execution Using Nitrogen Hypoxia
  - Mar. 26–June 24, 2024: Julian Assange Will Not Be Extradited to U.S. Until Death Penalty Is off the Table
  - Sept. 26, 2024 - Alabama Carries Out Second U.S. Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution and 1,600th Execution since 1976
  - Nov. 21, 2024 - Alabama Carries Out Third U.S. Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
  - Dec. 18, 2024 - Indiana Executes First Man in 15 Years
  - Dec. 23, 2024 - President Joe Biden Commutes Federal Capital Sentences for 37 of 40 Men on Death Row
  - Dec. 31, 2024 - North Carolina Governor Commutes 15 Death Row Sentences
  - Jan. 6, 2025 - Two Inmates Refuse Biden’s Death Sentence Commutations
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Death Penalty: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Timeline updates from Sept. 2024 - Jan. 2025; Gallup poll added to intro.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 08, 2025
	Links added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 04, 2025
	Timeline updated with Biden commutation of sentences	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 03, 2025
	Photo updated.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 25, 2024
	South Carolina methods of execution corrected.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 25, 2024
	Table fix.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 11, 2024
	New article added.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 08, 2024