Historical Timeline
History of the Death Penalty
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1700 BC - 1799
1700s BC - Code of Hammurabi Codifies the Death Penalty for the First Time

Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BC)
Source: Kurt, "The Code of Hammurabi," traveltoeat.com, June 30, 2012

JoAnn Bren Guernsey Death Penalty: Fair Solution or Moral Failure?, 2009
1608 - First Recorded Execution in the British American Colonies Was for Treason
"[W]hen the first colonists came to the land now known as the United States, they brought the British penal system across the ocean with them. A colonist in Virginia could be executed for crimes as trivial as stealing grapes, killing chickens, or trading with the Indians. But the first documented execution in the new colonies was for a far more serious offense. In the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608, Captain George Kendall was hanged for the capital offense of treason. Among other serious capital crimes in colonial times were murder, rape, heresy - and witchcraft."Ron Fridell, MA Capital Punishment, 2003
1682 - Pennsylvania Limits Crimes Punishable by Death to Treason and Murder

Frame of the Government of Pennsylvania, 1682
Source: www.loc.gov (accessed Jan. 6, 2010)
Negley K. Teeters, PhD The Cradle of the Penitentiary: The Walnut Jail at Philadelphia, 1773-1885, 1955
1764 - Italian Jurist Presents a Critique of the Death Penalty That Influences Abolitionists

Portrait of Cesare Beccaria
Source: www.giovannidallorto.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Michael Kronenwetter Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook, 2001
1775 - Death Penalty Used in All 13 US Colonies at Outbreak of American Revolution
By the start of the American Revolution, the death penalty was used in all 13 colonies. Rhode Island was the only colony that did not have at least 10 crimes punishable by death. The colonies had "roughly comparable death statutes which covered arson, piracy, treason, murder, sodomy, burglary, robbery, rape, horse-stealing, slave rebellion, and often counterfeiting. Hanging was the usual sentence. Rhode Island was probably the only colony which decreased the number of capital crimes in the late 1700's."Michael H. Reggio "History of the Death Penalty," Pbs.org (accessed Dec. 16, 2009)
1787 - Founding Fathers Allow for Death Penalty When Writing Constitution
"To most constitutional lawyers there seems little doubt that the Founding Fathers intended to allow for the death penalty in drawing up the US Constitution of 1787. Not only did certain provisions of the Constitution - such as the Fifth Amendment - expressly allow for the taking of life, but others - such as the Eighth Amendment - were deliberately phrased in ambiguous ways that suggested even if certain forms of punishment could be banned (such as crucifixions or beheadings) the basic principle of government executions remained permissible if individual states and the federal government wished to legislate for these."Robert Singh, PhD Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy, 2003
1787 - At Least One Declaration of Independence Signer against the Death Penalty
At least one signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush, opposed the death penalty. He is often cited as the political forebearer of the abolitionist movement.Joshua Marquis, JD "Truth and Consequences: The Penalty of Death," Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment?, 2004
Apr. 30, 1790 - First US Congress Establishes Federal Death Penalty
"The First Congress adopted several other bills relating to the federal judiciary or its functions. Except for the bill providing salaries, these bills originated in the Senate. Most important was the Punishment of Crimes Act, the first listing of federal crimes and their punishment. In addition to treason and counterfeiting of federal records, the crimes included murder, disfigurement, and robbery committed in federal jurisdictions or on the high seas. The fourth paragraph of the act authorized judges to sentence convicted murderers to surgical dissection after execution. The fifth paragraph provided fines and imprisonment for anyone attempting to rescue a body of an individual sentenced to dissection."First Federal Congress Project "First Federal Congress: Creation of the Judiciary," gwu.edu (accessed Jan. 27, 2010)
June 25, 1790 - First Person Executed Under US Federal Death Penalty
"The first federal execution was on June 25, 1790, when U.S. Marshall Henry Dearborn coordinated the hanging of Thomas Bird in Massachusetts. Dearborn spent five dollars and fifty cents for the construction of a gallows and a coffin."Turner Publishing Company Retired U.S. Marshalls Association, Nov. 9, 2001
1793 - PA Attorney General's Writings Introduce Concept of Varying Degrees of Murder and Contributes to Softening of Death Penalty Laws

Portrait of William Bradford, 1872
Source: www.justice.gov (accessed Jan. 7, 2010)
Rebecca Stefoff, MA Furman v. Georgia: Debating the Death Penalty, 2007
1800 - 1944
1833-1835 - Public Executions Are Attacked as Cruel and States Switch to Private Hangings

Illustration of a public execution
Source: www.gettyimages.com (accessed Apr. 23, 2010)
Many states enacted laws providing private hangings. Rhode Island (1833), Pennsylvania (1834), New York (1835), Massachusetts (1835), and New Jersey (1835) all abolished public hangings. By 1849, fifteen states were holding private hangings. This move was opposed by many death penalty abolitionists who thought public executions would eventually cause people to cry out against execution itself. For example, in 1835, Maine enacted what was in effect a moratorium on capital punishment after over ten thousand people who watched a hanging had to be restrained by police after they became unruly and began fighting. All felons sentenced to death would have to remain in prison at hard labor and could not be executed until one year had elapsed and then only on the governor's order. No governor ordered an execution under the 'Maine Law' for twenty-seven years."
Michael H. Reggio "History of the Death Penalty," pbs.org (accessed Dec. 16, 2009)
Jan. - Feb. 1843 - Rev. George Barrel Cheever and Abolitionist John O'Sullivan Hold Debates on Capital Punishment in New York
"Scores of legislative reports, newspaper articles, and essay on capital punishment flooded the reading public in the 1840s, but few of those works differed substantially from O'Sullivan's report and Cheever's book. When the Broadway Tabernacle in New York decided to sponsor a series of public debates, no question was as controversial as capital punishment and no two opponents as well known as O'Sullivan and Cheever...For three evenings, January 27, February 3, and February 17, 1843, O'Sullivan and Cheever debated the question 'Ought Capital Punishment to Be Abolished?'...
The debate between O'Sullivan and Cheever also demonstrated the shift from an emphasis on reforming criminals to a preoccupation with the deterrent effect of punishment. Opponents of capital punishment argued that life in prison served as a powerful enough deterrent; defenders of the death penalty insisted that imprisonment could never deter as effectively as the threat of death."
Louis P. Masur, PhD Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865, 1991
1845 - First National Death Penalty Abolition Society Is Formed
The first national death penalty abolition society, the American Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, is founded.US Department of State "The Evolution of the Death Penalty in the United States," infousa.state.gov (accessed Dec. 15, 2009)
1846 - Michigan Becomes the First US State to Abolish Capital Punishment (Except for Treason)
"In 1846, the state of Michigan abolished the death penalty for all crimes, except treason, and replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment. The law took effect the next year, making Michigan, for all intents and purposes, the first English-speaking jurisdiction in the world to abolish capital punishment."Robert Bohm, PhD "The Death Penalty in the United States," Battleground Criminal Justice Vol. 1, Ed. Gregg Barak, PhD, 2007
1852 - Rhode Island Becomes the First State to Outlaw the Death Penalty for All Crimes (Including Treason)
"The first state to outlaw the death penalty for all crimes, including treason, was Rhode Island, in 1852; Wisconsin was the second state to do so a year later."Robert Bohm, PhD "The Death Penalty in the United States," Battleground Criminal Justice Vol. 1, Ed. Gregg Barak, PhD, 2007
July 9, 1868 - 14th Amendment Is Ratified and Later Used to Challenge the Death Penalty
The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified after the Civil War. The amendment extends the Fifth Amendment's protections to the states. The Fourteenth Amendment states: "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Fourteenth Amendment was cited in the June 29, 1972 Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia which ruled the death penalty unconstitutional as administered. The Fourteenth Amendment was also cited in the Mar. 1, 2005 Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons which ruled the death penalty unconstitutional for offenders under the age of 18.William W. Van Alstyne, JD "The Fourteenth Amendment, the 'Right' to Vote, and the Understanding of the Thirty-Ninth Congress," Supreme Court Review, 1965
[Editor’s Note: See our question “Does the death penalty violate the 14th Amendment?”]
1887-1903 - Thomas Edison Demonstrates Power of Electricity by Electrocuting Animals

Topsy the Elephant being electrocuted by Thomas Edison, 1903
Source: www.wired.com (accessed Apr. 23, 2010)
JoAnn Bren Guernsey Death Penalty: Fair Solution or Moral Failure?, 2009
[Warning: graphic and potentially emotionally jarring material follows]. A Jan. 4, 1903 video of Thomas Edison electrocuting Topsy the Elephant can be seen here.
Aug. 6, 1890 - New York State Performs the First Execution by Electrocution with the Assistance of Thomas Edison's Engineers

Artist's rendering of William Kemmler's execution
Source: www.ccadp.org (accessed Jan. 7, 2010)
JoAnn Bren Guernsey Death Penalty: Fair Solution or Moral Failure?, 2009
1895-1917 - Nine States Abolish Capital Punishment during Second Great Reform Era
"In 1897, U.S. Congress passed a bill reducing the number of federal death crimes. In 1907, Kansas took the 'Maine Law' a step further and abolished all death penalties. Between 1911 and 1917, eight more states abolished capital punishment (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Arizona, Missouri and Tennessee - the latter in all cases but rape). Votes in other states came close to ending the death penalty."Michael H. Reggio Society's Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty, 1997
May 2, 1910 - Weems v. United States Establishes Precedents on "Cruel and Unusual Punishment"

US Supreme Court Room where the Court sat from 1860-1935
Source: www.supremecourt.gov, c. 1900
Larry K. Gaines, PhD and Roger LeRoy Miller, PhD , Criminal Justice in Action, 2008
Feb. 8, 1924 - First US Execution by Gas Chamber Carried Out in Nevada

Interior of a gas death house in Nevada in 1926
Source: Bettman/CORBIS
The History Channel "First Execution by Lethal Gas," history.com (accessed Dec. 16, 2009)
Mar. 1, 1932 - Lindbergh Act Makes Kidnapping a Federal Capital Offense
"The baby son of Charles A. Lindbergh is kidnapped from his home in Hopewell, New Jersey. The body of the infant is found in the nearby woods two months later. The incident leads Congress to pass a federal kidnapping statute, popularly known as the Lindbergh Act, that makes the crime a capital offense. Similar 'Lindbergh laws' are enacted in more than 20 states by the end of the decade."Harry Henderson Capital Punishment, Revised Edition, 2000
Aug. 14, 1936 - Last Public Execution

Rainey Bethea in 1936, the last prisoner to be publicly executed
Source: Associated Press
National Public Radio (NPR) "The Last Public Execution in America," npr.org, May 1, 2001
1945 - 1979
Jan. 31, 1945 - Private Eddie Slovik Becomes First American Executed for Desertion Since the Civil War

Private Eddie Slovik
Source: www.nndb.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Geoffrey Abbott Execution, 2006
Jan. 13, 1947 - Supreme Court Finds Second Execution Attempt after Technical Malfunction Does Not Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Willie Francis photographed in his cell the evening of the first attempt to execute him
Source: www.executedtoday.com (accessed Jan. 8, 2010)
Richard Lempert, JD, PhD and Joseph Sanders, JD, PhD, An Invitation to Law and Social Science: Desert, Disputes, and Distribution, 1989
June 19, 1953 - Rosenbergs Become the First US Civilians Executed for Espionage

The Rosenbergs on their way from jail to court, 1951
Source: rosenbergtrial.org (accessed Jan. 8, 2010)
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) "1951: Rosenbergs Guilty of Espionage," bbc.co.uk, (accessed Dec. 16, 2009)
1957-1972 - Several States Abolish Capital Punishment
"The movement against capital punishment revived again between 1955 and 1972. England and Canada completed exhaustive studies which were largely critical of the death penalty and these were widely circulated in the U.S. Death row criminals gave their own moving accounts of capital punishment in books and film. Convicted kidnapper Caryl Chessman published Cell 2455 Death Row and Trial by Ordeal. Barbara Graham's story was utilized in book and film with I Want to Live! after her execution. Television shows were broadcast on the death penalty. Hawaii and Alaska ended capital punishment in 1957, and Delaware did so the next year. Controversy over the death penalty gripped the nation forcing politicians to take sides. Delaware restored the death penalty in 1961. Michigan abolished capital punishment for treason in 1963. Voters in 1964 abolished the death penalty in Oregon. In 1965 Iowa, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont ended the death penalty. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 1969. Trying to end capital punishment state-by-state was difficult at best, so death penalty abolitionists turned much of their efforts to the courts."Michael H. Reggio Society's Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty, 1997
June 3, 1968 - US Supreme Court Forbids the Dismissal of Jurors Based on Personal Opposition to Capital Punishment
"Witherspoon v. Illinois: The Supreme Court rules that the practice of excluding prospective jurors who have reservations about the death penalty from capital trials results in juries whose sentencing decisions could be considered biased and therefore unconstitutional."Brian Forst, PhD, MBA and Cynthia Morris, Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History, 1997
June 29, 1972 - US Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Unconstitutional as Administered and Overturns over 600 Death Sentences

William Furman at the time of his arrest on Aug. 11, 1967
Source: Rebecca Stetoff, Furman V. Georgia: Debating the Death Penalty, 2007
Thomas Blomberg, PhD and Karol Lucken, PhD, American Penology: A History of Control, 2000
Nov. 21, 1974 - National Conference of Catholic Bishops Publicly Opposes Death Penalty
"The National Conference of Catholic Bishops speaks out against capital punishment in a reversal of the traditional Roman Catholic Church position supporting the death penalty as a legitimate means of self-protection for the state."Harry Henderson Capital Punishment, Revised Edition, 2000
July 2, 1976 - US Supreme Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Death Penalty

US Supreme Court
Source: www.supremecourt.gov (accessed Apr. 21, 2010)
Marvin D. Free Jr., PhD Racial Issues in Criminal Justice: The Case of African Americans, 2003
Jan. 17, 1977 - Gary Gilmore Becomes the First Person to Be Executed in the United States in 10 Years

Gary Gilmore in court, 1976
Source: www.apsu.edu (accessed Jan. 8, 2010)
Rebecca Stefoff, MA Furnam v. Georgia: Debating the Death Penalty, 2007
June 29, 1977 - US Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty to Be an Excessive Punishment for Rape Crimes
"Shortly after it revived state death penalty schemes in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court was asked [in Coker v. Georgia] to determine whether the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments prohibited the death penalty for rape...Justice Bryon White's plurality opinion for the Supreme Court [in a 7-2 vote on June 29, 1977] reversed the sentence, finding the death penalty disproportionate to the crime of raping an adult woman."
Paul Finkelman, PhD The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, 2006
1980 - 1999
June 1980 - American Medical Association Passes Resolution Saying Physicians Should Not Participate in Executions
"The debate about the role of doctors in executions was never addressed seriously until legislation in 1977 in the states of Oklahoma and Texas introduced execution by lethal injection onto their statutes. This started a vigorous discussion with the weight of argument being against participation. In 1980, the Judicial Affairs Committee on the American Medical Association approved a statement recalling that the doctor's role was to preserve life where there was a possibility of doing so and that the only possible role for a doctor at an execution was to certify the death of the prisoner." In June 1980, the House of Delegates of the AMA approved the resolution.British Medical Association Medicine Betrayed: The Participation of Doctors in Human Rights Abuses, 1992
July 2, 1982 - US Supreme Court Rules That Capital Punishment Is Excessive for a Defendant Who Played a Minor Role in a Felony Murder
"The United States Supreme Court (Endmund v. Florida) overturns [in a 5-4 vote on July 2, 1982] the death sentence of a man who was convicted of the robbery and murder of an elderly couple in Florida. Endmund had not directly participated in the murders himself, but had only drive the getaway car. This was enough, under Florida law, to make him a 'constructive aider and abettor' in the killings, and so liable to the death penalty. However, a majority of five of the Supreme Court justices rules that this is not enough to subject him to the death penalty, since they find Endmund had no intent to kill."Michael Kronenwetter Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook, 2001
Dec. 7, 1982 - Texas Performs First Lethal Injection

Illustration of Charles Brooks execution, Dec. 7, 1982
Source: "Charlie Brooks, Jr.," www.clarkprosecutor.org
[On Dec. 7, 1982,] Texas became the first to use the procedure, executing 40-year-old Charles Brooks for murdering Fort Worth mechanic David Gregory."
TIME Magazine "A Brief History of Lethal Injection," TIME website, Nov. 10, 2009
July 26, 1983 - US Supreme Court Approves Streamlined Federal Appeals Procedures for Capital Crimes

Convicted cop-killer Thomas Barefoot, 1983
Source: "Justices Give Killer a Reprieve," Gainseville Sun, Jan. 25, 1983
Bryan Vila, PhD and Cynthia Morris, Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History, 1997
June 26, 1986 - US Supreme Court Rules Execution of Insane Persons Unconstitutional
"[In] Ford v. Wainwright, 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court held [in a 5-4 vote on June 26, 1986] that the execution of an insane prisoner was an unconstitutional violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment."Stuart Kirk, DSW Mental Disorders in the Social Environment: Critical Perspectives, 2004
Nov. 4, 1986 - California Chief Justice Rose Bird Is Voted Out of Office for Voting Record in Death Penalty Cases

Chief Justice Rose Bird
Source: www.latimes.com (accessed Jan. 8, 2010)
Gordon Morris Bakken, JD, PhD Law in the Western United States, 2000
[Editor’s Note: Read more about the Rose Bird election at Rose Bird ProCon.org]
Nov. 1987 - A Study Finds 350 Cases of Defendants Wrongfully Convicted for Capital Crimes
"In 1987, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet published a landmark study [in the Stanford Law Review]
Brian Forst, PhD, MBA Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources, and Remedies, 2003
June 29, 1988 - US Supreme Court Rules Executions of Individuals Under Age of 16 Unconstitutional
"The main issue the Supreme Court considered in Thompson v. Oklahoma was whether it is constitutional to execute a person who was a 'child' at the time he committed the offense. Thompson's attorneys argued that he should not be executed because this would violate Thompson's rights, as a 'child,' under the Eighth Amendment, which forbids 'cruel and unusual punishment.'In June 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a [5-3] majority decision, to vacate the order to execute Thompson. The majority opinion by Justice John Paul Stevens noted that 'evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society' compelled the conclusion that it would be unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution to execute a person for a crime committed as a fifteen-year-old."
Raymond Gibbs, PhD Intentions in the Experience of Meaning, 1999
Apr. 21, 1992 - First CA Execution in 25 Years Proceeds after US Supreme Court Prevents Lower Courts from Granting Further Stays

Robert Alton Harris
Source: www.cdcr.ca.gov (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Earlier Tuesday, a seemingly jaunty Harris came within seconds of death but was rescued by a federal judge, who halted the execution even as the acid used to form the lethal gas flowed into a vat beneath the prisoner's seat. That final stay was quickly tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court, which clearly had had its fill of the Harris case. In an unprecedented ruling that capped a night of coast-to-coast faxes and deliberations the justices voted 7 to 2 to forbid any federal court from meddling further in the execution."
Los Angeles Times "Harris Dies After Judicial Duel 4 Stays Quashed," Los Angeles Times, Apr. 22, 1992
Jan. 25, 1993 - Supreme Court Rules New Evidence of Innocence Does Not Entitle Prisoners to Be Freed Unless Also a Constitutional Violation
"The Supreme Court in Herrera v. Collins held [in a 6-3 vote on Jan. 25, 1993] that a death-row inmate is not ordinarily entitled to relief where a claim of innocence is based on newly discovered evidence, unless the claim also includes an independent constitutional violation. The Supreme Court found that there is no due process violation in the execution of someone who was arguably innocent."Alan Clarke, JD, LLM, and Laurelyn Whitt, PhD The Bitter Fruit of American Justice: International and Domestic Resistance to the Death Penalty, 2007
June 28, 1993 - Kirk Bloodsworth Becomes First American Sentenced to Death Row to Be Exonerated with DNA Testing
Kirk Bloodsworth was released from prison on June 28, 1993 after a DNA test showed that a semen stain on the underwear of the 9-year-old girl he was twice convicted of raping and killing was not his. Bloodsworth spent one year awaiting trial, two years on death row, and then six years in prison after his death sentence was commuted to a life sentence before being exonerated. Bloodsworth is the first prisoner to have served time on death row to be exonerated with DNA testing. He received $300,000 in compensation for wrongful imprisonment and was granted a full pardon in Dec. 1994 by Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer.CNN (Cable News Network) "Kirk Bloodsworth, Twice Convicted of Rape and Murder, Exonerated by DNA Evidence," CNN.com, June 20, 2000
1994 - Federal Death Penalty Is Expanded When President Clinton Signs 1994 Crime Bill

President Clinton signs the 1994 crime bill
Source: www.gpo.gov (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)

Offenses eligible for the federal death penalty include large-scale drug trafficking, terrorist homicides, murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, and drive-by-shootings and carjackings that result in a death.
Robert Singh, PhD Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy, 2003
Jan. 12, 1996 - Release of the Film Dead Man Walking Invigorates Debate on Death Penalty

Poster for the film Dead Man Walking, 1996
Source: www.cuadp.org (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
James J. Megivern, ThD The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey, 1997
Jan. 25, 1996 - Last Execution by Hanging

James T. Vaughn Correctional Center where Delaware's only gallows stood between 1986 and 2003
Source: www.dpc.delaware.gov (accessed Apr. 26, 2010)
CNN (Cable News Network) "Delaware Holds First Hanging Since 1946," CNN.com, Jan. 25, 1996
Apr. 24, 1996 - Ability of Judges to Reverse Sentences of Death Row Inmates Is Restricted
"Over the past decade, death penalty proponents have made successful efforts at both the state and federal level to streamline the capital appeals process and expedite executions. The most significant of these efforts is the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). Capital punishment proponents argued that death row inmates abused the writ of habeas corpus by filing multiple, repetitive petitions. Congress passed AEDPA to restrict the availability of federal habeas relief in several significant manners." The bill passed 293-133-7 in the House of Representatives and 91-8-1 in the Senate. It was signed into law on Apr. 24, 1996.Evan Mandery, JD Capital Punishment in America: A Balanced Examination, 2004
Feb. 3, 1997 - American Bar Association Urges a Halt to Executions
"On February 3, 1997, the ABA therefore took action that it hoped would focus more attention on systemic problems and lack of fairness in the application of the death penalty in the United States. While taking no position on the death penalty per se, the ABA adopted a resolution initiated by the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities that urges a halt to executions until concerns about capital punishment in the U.S. are addressed. Specifically, the resolution calls for capital jurisdictions to impose a moratorium on all executions until they can (1) ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process, and (2) minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed."American Bar Association (ABA) "Policy History: Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project," American Bar Association website (accessed Dec. 21, 2009)
Mar. 3, 1999 - Last Execution by Gas Chamber
German national Walter LaGrand was executed in an Arizona gas chamber on Mar. 3, 1999. In addition to US courts, his case was also heard by the International Court of Justice in the Hague, where "Judge Christopher Weeramantry of Sri Lanka urged the US Government to use 'all the measures at its disposal' to prevent the execution. Germany asked the world court to intervene after Arizona Governor Jane Hull rejected appeals from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to stop the execution. Germany does not have the death penalty and contends Arizona failed to advise the LaGrand brothers of their right to consular assistance at their trials. The LaGrands were born in Germany but came to the United States when they were children." LaGrand twice refused offers of lethal injection and reportedly chose the gas chamber to protest the death penalty. As of Apr. 21, 2010, LaGrand is the last prisoner to be executed by the gas chamber.British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) "World: Americas Countdown to US execution," bbc.co.uk, Mar. 4, 1999
2000 - 2009
Jan. 31, 2000 - Illinois Governor George Ryan Declares a Moratorium on Executions

Governor George Ryan
Source: www.life.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Robert Bohm, PhD "The Death Penalty in the United States," Battleground Criminal Justice Vol. 1, Ed. Gregg Barak, PhD, 2007
Dec. 21, 2000 - Texas and Governor George W. Bush Lead US with Most Executions
In 2000, Texas led the US in executions with 40 inmates being put to death. Oklahoma followed with 11, Virginia with 8, and Florida with 6 executions. Between 1976 and Mar. 30, 2010, Texas executed 452 inmates. Virginia came in second most with 106 executions and Oklahoma in third with 92 executions. Between Jan. 17, 1995 and Dec. 21, 2000, Texas Governor George W. Bush presided over the execution of 150 men and two women, more than any other governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Governor Bush received a summary from his legal counsel before each execution to determine whether or not to allow the execution to proceed. The first fifty-seven summaries were prepared by Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as US Attorney General under President Bush between Feb. 3, 2005 and Sep. 17, 2007. Governor Bush granted one clemency during his term in office.Death Penalty Information Center "Number of Executions by State and Region Since 1976,"Death Penalty Information Center website, Mar. 30, 2010
Alan Berlow "The Texas Clemency Memos,"Atlantic, July/Aug. 2003
June 11, 2001 - Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh Becomes the First Federal Prisoner to Be Executed in 38 Years

Timothy McVeigh on the cover of TIME magazine, 1997
Source: www.time.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) "Defiant McVeigh Dies in Silence," bbc.co.uk, June 11, 2001
June 20, 2002 - US Supreme Court Rules the Execution of "Mentally Retarded" Offenders Unconstitutional
"The Constitution bars the execution of mentally retarded offenders, the Supreme Court declared today in a landmark death penalty ruling based on the majority's view that a 'national consensus' now rejected such executions as excessive and inappropriate. Of the 38 states that have a death penalty, 18 now prohibit executing the retarded, up from 2 when the court last considered the question in 1989. This 'dramatic shift in the state legislative landscape,' especially when anticrime legislation is extremely popular, 'provides powerful evidence that today our society views mentally retarded offenders as categorically less culpable than the average criminal,' Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the 6-to-3 majority" on June 20, 2002.New York Times "Citing 'National Consensus,' Justices Bar Death Penalty for Retarded Defendants," nytimes.com, June 21, 2002
June 24, 2002 - US Supreme Court Rules That Juries, Not Judges, Must Determine Presence of Aggravating Factors Necessary for a Death Sentence
"In Ring v. Arizona (2002), the Supreme Court ruled [7-2 on June 24, 2002] that juries, rather than judges, must make the crucial factual decisions as to whether a convicted murderer should receive the death penalty. Ring v. Arizona overturned the law of that and four others - Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska - where judges alone decided whether there were aggravating factors that warrant capital punishment. The decision also raised questions about the procedure in four other states - Alabama, Delaware, Florida, and Indiana - where the judge decided life imprisonment or death after hearing a jury's recommendation. The Ring opinion also says that any aggravating factors must be stated in the indictment, thus also requiring a change in federal death penalty laws."Todd Clear, PhD American Corrections, 2008
June 24, 2004 - Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional in New York
"New York State's highest court ruled yesterday that a central provision of the state's capital punishment law violated the State Constitution. Lawyers said the ruling would probably spare the lives of the four men now on death row and effectively suspend the death penalty in New York. The 4-to-3 ruling from the State Court of Appeals in Albany went well beyond the particulars of a single case, giving opponents of the law an important victory. Besides the four death-row inmates, lawyers said, it could spare the lives of nine defendants fighting capital cases and more than 30 others whose murder cases are in early stages… [T]he court's majority said, ‘Under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed.'"New York Times "4-3 Ruling Effectively Halts Death Penalty in New York," nytimes.com, June 24, 2004
Mar. 1, 2005 - Death Sentences for Offenders Under the Age of 18 Is Ruled Unconstitutional

Christopher Simmons was 17 when he kidnapped and killed a woman
Source: www.washingtonpost.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Robert Regoli, PhD, and John D. Hewitt, PhD, Exploring Criminal Justice, 2007
Dec. 30, 2006 - Execution of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein at his trial, 2005
Source: www.nytimes.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Forbes.com "US Welcomes Saddam Hanging, Europe Opposes Execution," forbes.com, Dec. 30, 2006
Dec. 18, 2007 - United Nations General Assembly Passes a Resolution Calling for a Moratorium on the Death Penalty

United Nations General Assembly
Source: www.unmultimedia.org (accessed Apr. 21, 2010)

Two similar moves in the 1990s failed in the assembly. The resolution's text stops short of an outright demand for immediate abolition; it carries no legal force but backers say it has powerful moral authority. Among nations who voted against were Egypt, Iran, Singapore, the United States and a bloc of Caribbean states. Eighty-seven countries -- including the 27 European Union states, more than a dozen Latin American countries and eight African states -- jointly introduced the resolution, though opponents singled out the EU as the driving force."
Reuters "UN Assembly Calls for Moratorium on Death Penalty," reuters.com, Dec. 18, 2007
June 25, 2008 - US Supreme Court Finds Death Penalty Excessive for the Crime of Child Rape

Patrick O. Kennedy was spared execution in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision
Source: www.cnn.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
`The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,' Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court. The ruling extends a line of Supreme Court cases that have restricted the circumstances in which the death penalty can be applied. It also underscores Kennedy's significance as the court's deciding vote on many social issues. The court divided along ideological lines. Justices Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented."
Bloomberg "Death Penalty for Child Rape Barred by Top U.S. Court," bloomberg.com, June 25, 2008
Mar. 18, 2009 - New Mexico Repeals the Death Penalty

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
Source: www.deathpenalty.org (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
Associated Press (AP) "New Mexico Governor Abolishes Capital Punishment," ap.org, Mar. 19, 2009
Dec. 8, 2009 - Ohio Performs the First Execution with a One-Drug Intravenous Lethal Injection

Execution chamber at Southern Ohio Correction Facility in Lucasville where Kenneth Biros was executed
Source: www.cleveland.com (accessed Jan. 9, 2010)
New York Times "Capital Punishment," nytimes.com, Dec. 18, 2009
Dec. 18, 2009 - Lowest Annual Number of Death Sentences Handed Down in 2009 since Death Penalty was Reinstated in 1976
"Use of capital punishment by states continues its steady decline, with fewer death sentences handed down in 2009 than any year since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. Year-end figures released Friday by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) show 11 states are now considering abolishing executions, with many legislators citing high costs associated with incarcerating and handling often decades-long appeals by death row inmates... Fifty-two inmates were executed this year in 11 states... As in previous years, Texas in 2009 led the states in executions, with 24 -- four times as many as the next-highest, Alabama... Nine men who had been sentenced to death were exonerated and freed in 2009, most after new DNA or other forensic testing cleared them, or raised doubts their culpability. That is the second highest total since the death penalty was reinstated 33 years ago."CNN (Cable News Network) "Death Penalty Use Declining Nationwide," cnn.com, Dec. 18, 2009
2010 - present
June 18, 2010 - Last Execution by Firing Squad

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff Announces on Twitter He Had Given Final Approval for Gardner's Execution
Source: www.twitter.com (accessed June 18, 2010)
TIME Magazine "Ronnie Lee Gardner Executed By Firing Squad," TIME website, June 18, 2010
Aug. 2010 - Lethal Drug Shortage Delays Executions in Kentucky
"Some states are delaying executions because of a shortage of sodium thiopental, a drug used as an anesthetic and given to prisoners during lethal injections. It's one of three drugs used for lethal injection in more than 30 states...Some states have been trying to get additional supplies of the drug for months. In August, Gov. Steve Beshear was asked to sign death warrants for three prisoners in Kentucky but could set only one execution date because it only had a single dose.
'We've had the drug on back order since March,' says Todd Henson, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Corrections. 'The company that supplies it to us advised that they were unable to produce it because they weren't able to get the active ingredient from their supplier.'
Hospira, based in Lake Forest, Ill., is apparently the only manufacturer of the drug. The company has told Kentucky officials it won't be available until early next year."
National Public Radio (NPR) "States Delay Executions Owing to Drug Shortage," npr.org, Sep. 16, 2010
Sep. 23, 2010 - Woman with 72 IQ Executed in Virginia
"Teresa Lewis was put to death in Virginia on Thursday for arranging the killings of her husband and a stepson over a $250,000 insurance payment. The 41-year-old was the first woman to be executed in the United States in five years... More than 7,300 appeals to stop the execution - the first of a woman in Virginia since 1912 - had been made to the governor in a state second only to Texas in the number of people it executes. Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women. Lewis, who defense attorneys said was borderline mentally disabled, had inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Her execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of defense evidence that one of the triggermen manipulated her." Under US law, anyone with an execution under 70 cannot be executed. Lewis was judged to have an IQ of 72."CBS News "Teresa Lewis Execution: Virginia Executes Woman Amid Outcry," cbsnews.com, Sep. 24, 2010
Jan. 21, 2011 - Sole Firm Stops Making Key Death Penalty Drug

Sodium Pentothal
Source: www.addictionsearch.com (accessed Jan. 21, 2011)
Los Angeles Times "Maker of Anesthetic Used in Executions Is Discontinuing Drug" latimes.com, Jan. 22, 2011
Apr. 25, 2012 - Connecticut Repeals the Death Penalty
"The governor of Connecticut on Wednesday signed into law a repeal of the death penalty, making it the fifth state in recent years to abandon capital punishment. Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the legislation without fanfare behind closed doors, saying in a statement it was 'a moment for sober reflection, not celebration.'With the law, which replaces the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole, Connecticut joins 16 other states and the District of Columbia that do not allow capital punishment...
The repeal in Connecticut applies only to future sentences, and the 11 men on its death row now still face execution. However some legal experts have said defense attorneys could use the repeal measure to win life sentences for those inmates."
Reuters "Connecticut Abolishes Death Penalty," reuters.com, Apr. 25, 2012
May 2, 2013 - Maryland Becomes 18th State to Repeal the Death Penalty
"Maryland's governor signed a bill Thursday repealing the death penalty. The legislation goes into effect October 1. In those cases in which the state has filed a notice to seek a death sentence, ‘the notice shall be considered withdrawn and it shall be considered a notice to seek a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under specified circumstances,’ according to a press release from the office of Governor Martin O'Malley."CNN (Cable News Network) "Maryland Governor Signs Death Penalty Repeal," cnn.com, May 2, 2013
Oct. 29, 2013 - US Death Penalty Support at Lowest Level in over 40 Years
"Sixty percent of Americans say they favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, the lowest level of support Gallup has measured since November 1972, when 57% were in favor. Death penalty support peaked at 80% in 1994, but it has gradually declined since then."Gallup "U.S. Death Penalty Support Lowest in More Than 40 Years," gallup.com, Oct. 29, 2013
Feb. 11, 2014 - Washington State Governor Suspends the Death Penalty
"The governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, announced Tuesday that no executions would take place in the state while he remained in office, despite the fact that the death penalty was legal there. Citing 'problems that exist in our capital punishment system,' Mr. Inslee, a Democrat, said he would issue a reprieve in any death penalty case that crossed his desk, though he would not let any death row prisoners go free. A future governor could reverse this action, he noted, and order an execution to be carried out… Though Mr. Inslee had previously supported the death penalty, he said, ‘My responsibilities as governor have led me to re-evaluate that position.'"New York Times "Executions Are Suspended by Governor in Washington," by Ian Lovett, nytimes.com, Feb. 11, 2014
May 22, 2014 - Tennessee Passes Law Allowing the State to Electrocute Death Row Inmates

Picture of Tennessee Electric Chair at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, TN.
Source: Scott Neuman, "Tennessee Gov. OKs Allowing Electric Chair for Executions," npr.org, May 22, 2014
Associated Press (AP) “Tennessee Brings Back Electric Chair,” bigstory.ap.org, May 23, 2014
July 16, 2014 - California’s Death Penalty Violates US Constitution, Rules Federal Judge
"A federal judge in Orange County [US District Judge Cormac J. Carney] ruled Wednesday [on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones] that California's death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment… Carney said the state's death penalty has created long delays and uncertainty for inmates, most of whom will never be executed. He noted that more than 900 people have been sentenced to death in California since 1978 but only 13 have been executed... Natasha Minsker, a director of the ACLU of Northern California, said Wednesday's ruling marked the first time that a federal judge had found the state's current system unconstitutional. She said it was also 'the first time any judge has ruled systemic delay creates an arbitrary system that serves no legitimate purpose and is therefore unconstitutional.'"Los Angeles Times "Federal Judge Rules California Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional," latimes.com, July 16, 2014
[Editor’s Note: On Aug. 21, 2014, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that she will appeal US District Judge Cormac J. Carney’s lower court decision to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, “because it is not supported by the law, and it undermines important protections that our courts provide to defendants. This flawed ruling requires appellate review.” On Nov. 12, 2015, a three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling of US District Judge Cormac J. Carney. The court did not address the question of whether California’s death penalty was constitutional.]
Feb. 13, 2015 - Pennsylvania Governor Declares Death Penalty Moratorium
"Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf halted all executions in his state Friday, citing the state's 'error prone' justice system and 'inherent biases' among his reasons for the moratorium... Wolf, a Democrat who ran his family's cabinet manufacturing business before becoming governor in January, said the moratorium would be in place until a task force examining capital punishment in Pennsylvania issues its final report."CNN (Cable News Network) "Pennsylvania Governor Halts Death Penalty While 'Error Prone' System Reviewed," cnn.com, Feb. 14, 2015
Mar. 23, 2015 - Utah Reinstates Use of the Firing Squad for Executions
"Utah's governor signed a bill Monday that brings back firing squads as a potential way to execute some death row prisoners. Lethal injection remains the primary method for carrying out executions in the state, Gov. Gary R. Herbert said in a statement. A firing squad would only be used in the event the necessary drugs cannot be obtained… Utah banned death by firing squad in 2004, though inmates who chose that option before the law changed still ended up being shot to death. The last execution by firing squad was in 2010, and it was also the most recent execution in Utah."CNN (Cable News Network) “Utah to Allow Firing Squads for Executions,” cnn.com, Mar. 23, 2015
May 27, 2015 - Nebraska Legislature Abolishes the Death Penalty

Nebraska State Senators Rick Kolowski (left) and Ernie Chambers (right) celebrate the override of the governor's veto.
Source: "Hours of Suspense, Emotion Lead up to a Landmark Vote for Legislatures on Repealing Death Penalty," omaha.com
New York Times "Nebraska Abolishes Death Penalty," nytimes.com, May 27, 2015
June 29, 2015 - Supreme Court Upholds Use of Execution Drug Midazolam
"The Supreme Court said states can continue to conduct executions using the sedative midazolam, rejecting claims the drug poses too great a risk that condemned prisoners will suffer excruciating pain. The 5-4 decision bitterly split the court on Monday. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said the prisoners who brought suit failed to suggest an alternative to midazolam. He added the scarcity of more effective sedatives could be traced to the anti-death-penalty movement, which has pressured pharmaceutical manufacturers to stop supplying execution chambers. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas joined the majority. In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the majority's position left the condemned men 'exposed to what may well be the chemical equivalent of being burned at the stake.' Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined the dissent."
Glossip v. Gross Ruling
majority decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, June 29, 2015
Wall Street Journal, "Supreme Court Upholds Use of Death-Penalty Drug," by Jess Bravin, June 29, 2015
Aug. 13, 2015 - Connecticut Supreme Court Bans the Death Penalty
"Connecticut's top court on Thursday ruled that the state could no longer impose the death penalty, saying that under the state's constitution it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment... The decision followed a 2012 state law that abolished capital punishment for crimes committed after that date but allowed it to be imposed for crimes previously committed... The court noted that the punishment is imposed only rarely, saying there was a 'freakishness' in its use and that there were wide disparities in its application depending on a defendant's race or economic class."Reuters "Connecticut's Top Court Bans Death Penalty in State," reuters.com, Aug. 13, 2015
Jan. 12, 2015 - US Supreme Court Rules That Florida's Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional
"The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s... death penalty, faulting it for giving the jury only an advisory role in deciding whether capital punishment was warranted. The 8-1 ruling came in the case of Timothy Lee Hurst, who was convicted of stabbing a coworker to death in 1998 at a Popeye’s restaurant in Pensacola. A judge sentenced Hurst to death after a jury recommended execution on a 7-5 vote. The high court said Florida’s system violated the U.S. constitutional right to a jury trial because it required the judge to independently assess the circumstances of the crime and the appropriateness of capital punishment... Florida has 400 inmates on death row, second only to California... Now 'every single one of them will bring a Hurst challenge and the lower courts will sort it out in a variety of ways,' said Douglas Berman, a specialist on criminal sentencing who teaches at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law."Bloomberg "Florida Death-Sentence System Voided by US Supreme Court," bloomberg.com, Jan. 12, 2016
Aug. 2, 2016 - Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional in Delaware
"The Delaware Supreme Court has decided that the state's death penalty law violates the Sixth Amendment. The court was responding to a U.S. Supreme Court decision from a case in January — Hurst v. Florida — that found that Florida's death penalty law violated the Constitution because it gave judges — not juries — ultimate power to impose the death penalty… All pending capital murder trials and the executions of about a dozen prisoners in Delaware were put on hold pending the outcome of the case."National Public Radio (NPR) "Delaware Supreme Court Finds State's Death Penalty Law is Unconstitutional," npr.org, Aug. 2, 2016
[Editor’s Note: On Dec. 15, 2016 the Delaware Supreme court ruled that their Aug. 2nd decision should apply retroactively to the 12 men who were on Delaware’s death row.]
Nov. 8, 2016 - Nebraska Voters Reinstate the Death Penalty
"Nebraska voters have restored the death penalty… Voters overturned the Legislature's decision last year to abolish capital punishment. A coalition partially financed by Ricketts [Nebraska’s Governor] launched a ballot drive that placed the issue on the ballot after lawmakers overrode the governor's veto in May 2015. Ricketts says the vote demonstrates clear public support for capital punishment in Nebraska."New York Times “With Death Penalty Back, Nebraska Looks Ahead to Executions,” nytimes.com, Nov. 9, 2016
Aug. 14, 2018 - Synthetic Opioid Fentanyl Used for the First Time in a Lethal Injection Execution
"Prison officials in Nebraska used fentanyl, the powerful opioid at the center of the nation’s overdose epidemic, to help execute a convicted murderer on Tuesday [Aug. 14]. The lethal injection at the Nebraska State Penitentiary was the first time fentanyl had been used to carry out the death penalty in the United States... The four-drug cocktail contained diazepam, a tranquilizer; fentanyl citrate, a powerful synthetic opioid that can block breathing and knock out consciousness; cisatracurium besylate, a muscle relaxant; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart."New York Times Mitch Smith, "Fentanyl Used to Execute Nebraska Inmate, in a First for US," nytimes.com, Aug. 14, 2018
Oct. 11, 2018 - Washington Death Penalty Struck Down by State Supreme Court
"Washington’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s death penalty Thursday [Oct. 11, 2018], ruling that it had been used in an arbitrary and racially discriminatory manner. Washington has had a moratorium on executions since 2014, but the ruling makes it the 20th state to do away with capital punishment."Associated Press (AP) "Washington Justices Toss Death Penalty as Arbitrary, Unfair," apnews.com, Oct. 11, 2018
Mar. 13, 2019 - California Governor Declares Death Penalty Moratorium
"Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign an executive order on Wednesday [Mar. 13, 2019] to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in California, vowing that no prisoner in the state will be executed while he is in office because of a belief that capital punishment is discriminatory, unjust and 'inconsistent with our bedrock values.' The order will prevent the state from putting prisoners to death by granting temporary reprieves to all 737 condemned inmates on California's death row, the largest in the nation. It will immediately close the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison and scuttle the state's ongoing efforts to devise a constitutional method for lethal injection. No inmate will be released and no sentence or conviction will be altered, the order says. Newsom joins governors in Oregon, Colorado and Pennsylvania who have imposed moratoriums on executions in those states, all using executive powers. The action runs counter to the expressed will of California voters, who over the last six years rejected two statewide ballot measures to repeal the death penalty and favored fast-tracking the appeals process."Los Angeles Times "Gov. Gavin Newsom to Block California Death Row Executions, Close San Quentin Execution Chamber," latimes.com, Mar. 12, 2019
May 30, 2019 - New Hampshire Abolishes Death Penalty
"New Hampshire is now the 21st U.S. state to have abolished capital punishment, after its legislature voted to override a veto by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. After a years-long effort to repeal the state's death penalty, the state's Senate voted 16-8 Thursday to finally make it official... The last time New Hampshire executed a convicted murderer was in 1939, but the state does currently have an inmate on death row: Michael Addison, who was convicted of the 2006 killing of Manchester police officer Michael Briggs. The new law would not retroactively apply to Addison."National Public Radio (NPR) "New Hampshire Abolishes Death Penalty as Lawmakers Override Governor's Veto," npr.org, May 30, 2019
July 25, 2019 - US Federal Government to Resume Use of Death Penalty
"The federal government will start carrying out death sentences for the first time in nearly two decades, Attorney General William Barr said Thursday [July 25, 2019], ordering officials to schedule executions for five inmates. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has not executed anyone since 2003, and it faced legal challenges to how it planned to carry out capital punishment. In reversing the informal moratorium, Barr ordered the government to adopt a new method for executing prisoners, replacing its lethal cocktail with injections of a single drug, pentobarbital... The decision is a reversal by the federal government, which has executed three people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1988. President Donald Trump has frequently advocated for capital punishment."USA Today Kristine Phillips, "Justice Department Resumes Capital Punishment after Nearly Two Decades, Orders Executions of Five Inmates," usatoday, July 25, 2019
Nov. 25, 2019 - Majority of Americans Support Life in Prison instead of Death Penalty for the First Time in 34 Years
- "60% say life imprisonment the better punishment, up from 45% in 2014
- This marks first time majority supports life in prison over death penalty
- 56% still broadly favor using the death penalty for convicted murderers
Gallup Jeffrey M. Jones, "Americans Now Support Life in Prison over Death Penalty," gallup.com, Nov. 25, 2019
Dec. 6, 2019 - Supreme Court Keeps Federal Executions on Hold until Lower Court Ruling
"A series of federal executions that were set to begin on Monday [Dec. 9, 2019] will remain on hold, the Supreme Court said on Friday [Dec. 6].The court's order is a loss for the Trump administration, which announced last July that it would reinstate the federal death penalty after a nearly two-decade lapse.
The Supreme Court denied the government's request to wipe away a lower court opinion that held inmates were likely to succeed in their argument that the new protocol conflicted with federal law...
Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately to say they agreed with the court's decision but that they thought the lower court should be able to decide the case within the next 60 days.
The five federal inmates ordered to be executed are Daniel Lewis Lee, for murdering a family of three, including an 8-year-old girl; Lezmond Mitchell, for murdering a 63-year-old and her 9-year-old granddaughter; Wesley Ira Purkey, for raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl; Alfred Bourgeois, for torturing and killing his own 2-year-old daughter; Dustin Lee Honken, for shooting and killing five people, including two young girls.
Lawyers for the inmates filed an immediate appeal, challenging not the constitutionality of their executions but instead arguing that the government's new lethal injections protocol is unlawful.
A district judge blocked the executions from going forward, holding that the protocol conflicts with the Federal Death Penalty Act, which requires adherence to a state's method of execution.
The judge put the executions on hold, ruling that a delay would not hurt the government, particularly because it has waited several years to announce a new protocol."
CNN (Cable News Network) Ariane de Vogue and David Shortell, "Supreme Court Blocks Justice Department from Restarting Federal Executions Next Week," cnn.com, Dec. 6, 2019
Mar. 23, 2020 - Colorado Becomes 22nd State to Abolish the Death Penalty
Governor Jared Polis (D) signed SB 20-100 on Monday, Mar. 23, 2020 to abolish the death penalty as of July 1, 2020 and commute the sentences of the three men on death row to life in prison without parole.The 1997 execution of Gary Lee Davis, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a woman, was the last execution performed in the state. The June 2009 death penalty sentence of Robert Ray for murder was the last time a Colorado jury imposed the death penalty.
Several capital cases were in progress when Polis signed the law. Because the law doesn't go into effect until July 1, 2020, it is not clear if those defendants are ineligible for the death penalty if convicted and sentenced before July.
Aris Folley, "Death Penalty Abolished in Colorado," the hill.com, Mar. 23, 2020
Jesse Paul and John Ingold, "Governor Signs Bill Abolishing Colorado's Death Penalty, Commutes Sentences of State's 3 Death Row Inmates," coloradosun.com, Mar. 23, 2020
Apr. 10, 2020 - Healthcare Workers Ask States to Release Execution Drugs to Fight COVID-19
A group of nine pharmacists, doctors, and public health experts published an open letter to the US states asking that the drugs used for lethal injection be released to the healthcare community for use in the fight against COVID-19 (coronavirus).
They stated: "Many of the medicines needed during this critical time are the same drugs used in lethal injection executions. These medicines were never made or developed to cause death – to the contrary, many were formulated to connect patients to life‐saving ventilators and lessen the discomfort of intubation... We urgently ask you to send any execution drug supplies in your storerooms to hospitals where they are needed to treat critically ill COVID‐19 patients. At this crucial moment for our country, we must prioritize the needs and lives of patients above ending the lives of prisoners."
The drugs in question include four listed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists as in short supply: midazolam, vecuronium bromide, rocuronium bromide, and fentanyl. Other drugs used in executions that are needed for intubation and mechanical ventilation include rocuronium bromide, cisatracurium besylate, and etomidate.
Joel B. Zivot, et al., Letter to State Correctional Facility Directors, Apr. 2020
Asher Stockler, "Health Care Workers Ask States to Hand over Death Penalty Drugs Needed to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic," newsweek.com, Apr. 10, 2020
May 15, 2020 - Oregon to Empty Death Row
On Friday, May 15, 2020, Oregon Corrections Director Colette Peters announced the state's death row will be closed in summer 2020 and the 27 death row inmates will be moved to the general prison population or other prison housing.The 40-cell space will be converted into a disciplinary unit for inmates who conduct illicit behavior in prison.Oregon has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2011, imposed by Governor John Kitzhaber and upheld by his successor Governor Kate Brown. The last execution in the state was on May 16, 1997.
Noelle Crombie, "Oregon's Death Row Will Be Dismantled by Summer," oregonlive.com, May 15, 2020
Noelle Crombie, "Take a Look inside Oregon's Execution Chamber," oregonlive.com, Feb. 4, 2020
June 29, 2020 - Supreme Court Declines to Hear Federal Lethal Injection Protocol Challenge
The Bureau of Prisons adopted a single drug lethal injection protocol using pentobarbital in order to resume federal executions in July 2020.The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that allows the executions to go forward.
The federal government has not carried out an execution in 17 years.
Adam Liptak, "Federal Executions Can Restart after Supreme Court Declines a Case," nytimes.com, June 29, 2020
Ariane de Vogue and Jamie Ehrlich, "Supreme Court Turns away Challenge to Federal Executions by Lethal Injections," cnn.com, June 29, 2020
July 14, 2020 - First Federal Execution since 2003
Daniel Lewis Lee was executed by lethal injection at the federal prison Terre Haute, Indiana, on July 14, 2003. Lee was convicted in 1999 of murdering a family of three in 1996.The execution came after a 5-4 Supreme Court decision allowed the execution to move forward. Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, stating, "The resumption of federal executions promises to provide examples that illustrate the difficulties of administering the death penalty consistent with the Constitution."
Attorney General William Barr announced the resumption of federal use of the death penalty in July 2019. The federal government had not carried out an execution since 2003. Two more federal executions are scheduled for July 2020 and one more in August 2020.
Ariane de Vogue, Chandelis Duster and David Shortell, "Daniel Lewis Lee Executed after Supreme Court Clears the Way for First Federal Execution in 17 Years," cnn.com, July 14, 2020
Carrie Johnson, "Federal Government Executes 1st Prisoner in 17 Years after Overnight Court Rulings," npr.org, July 14, 2020
Marty Johnson and John Kruzel, "First Federal Prisoner in 17 Years Executed Hours after Supreme Court Decision," thehill.com, July 14, 2020
Aug. 23, 2020 - COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Has Killed More US Prisoners in 2020 than the Death Penalty in Two Decades
As of the morning of Aug. 23, 2020, 858 prisoners had died of COVID-19 (coronavirus), more than the 839 prisoners executed since 2001.Douglas A. Berman, "The New Death Penalty: COVID Has Now Killed More US Prisoners in Months Than the US Death Penalty Has in the Last Two Decades," sentencing.typepad.com, Aug. 23, 2020
Sharon Dolovich, "UCLA Law COVID-19 behind Bars Data Project," law.ucla.edu (accessed Aug. 23, 2020
Sep. 24, 2020 - US Executed Man for Crime Committed as Teen for First Time in 70 Years
For the first time in 70 years, the US federal government executed a man for a crime he committed as a teenager. Christopher Andre Vialva was convicted of murdering two youth ministers in 1999, when Vialva was 19 years old.Vialva's age at the time of the crime has led some to question whether the sentence was too harsh. Jason Chein, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Temple University, stated, ""Despite the very, very heinous nature of the crime that Christopher has been convicted for, it's my position that based on the science, his brain was not the brain of a fully fledged adult. And that leads me to the conclusion that the punishment of taking one's life is too severe."
The US Supreme Court outlawed executing minors in 2005 as "cruel and unusual punishment." Though Vialva was 19, and therefore not a legal minor, Chein elaborated, "The idea that there's this bright line, this age that you suddenly cross into maturity as you go from 17 to 18, is undermined very much by the evidence from developmental science. There's no moment at which you cross this line, and now you're an adult."
55 federal inmates were on death row as of Sep. 24, 2020.
Death Penalty Information Center, "Psychologist Raises Concerns About Upcoming Federal Execution for Crimes Committed as a Teenager," deathpenaltyinfo.org, Sep. 18, 2020
Harmeet Kaur, "The US Plans to Execute a Man for a Crime He Committed at 19. Scientists Say the Research on Brain Development Makes That Wrong," cnn.com, Sep. 24, 2020
Michael Levenson, "U.S. Executes Inmate Who Murdered Two Youth Ministers," nytimes.com, Sep. 24, 2020
Nov. 27, 2020 - Trump Administration Pushes New Federal Rule to Allow More Methods of Execution
The Trump administration published a new rule in the Federal Register on Nov. 27, 2020 (with a date correction issued on Dec. 1) to allow the federal government to use all execution methods allowed by the state in which the federal inmate is being held if lethal injection drugs are not available. For example, of the 28 states that allow the death penalty, at least nine allow electrocution, firing squads, and/or hanging.The rule is set to go into effect on Dec. 28, 2020.
However, the new rule may be a moot point because President-Elect Joe Biden campaigned against the death penalty.
There are currently 54 people on federal death row, with five inmates scheduled to be executed before Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021.
Christina Carrega, "DOJ Set to Execute 5 Federal Prisoners before Inauguration Day," cnn.com, Nov. 25, 2020
Christina Carrega, "Justice Department Rushing to Expand Execution Methods Like Firing Squads for Federal Death Row Inmates," cnn.com, Nov. 29, 2020
National Archives, "Manner of Federal Executions: A Rule by the Justice Department on 11/27/2020," federalregister.gov, Nov. 27, 2020
National Archives, "Manner of Federal Executions: A Rule by the Justice Department on 12/01/2020," federalregister.gov, Dec. 1, 2020
Dec. 4, 2020 - COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Has Killed More US Prisoners in 2020 than the Death Penalty in over Five Decades
Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, there have been 1527 executions. COVID-19 (coronavirus) deaths overtook executions as of Dec. 4, 2020, when virus deaths totaled at least 1568.As of December 7, 2020, the Marshall Project counted at least 1,570 COVID-19 deaths among prisoners since Mar. 26, 2020 when the first COVID-19 prisoner death was recorded.
Only seven states have yet to report a COVID-19 prisoner death: Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.
As of Dec. 1, 2020 at least 227,333 prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19, with 166,441 prisoners recovering from the virus.
Douglas A. Berman, "The New Death Penalty: COVID Has Now Killed in Nine Months More US Prisoners Than Capital Punishment over Last 50+ Years," sentencing.typepad.com, Dec. 5, 2020
The Marshall Project, "A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons," themarshallproject.org, Dec. 8, 2020
Dec. 8, 2020 - Ohio Governor Announces Continued "Unofficial Moratorium" on Death Penalty
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced that lethal injection is no longer an option in the state because of ongoing problems acquiring the drugs for execution.Lethal injection has been the only legal method of execution in Ohio since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1999. The last execution in the state was in July 2018.
The ten executions scheduled for 2021 are now postponed unless the legislature approves a new method of execution.
Jeremy Pelzer, "Ohio Will Stop Executions until Lawmakers Pick Alternative to Lethal Injection, Gov. Mike DeWine Says," cleveland.com, Dec. 8, 2020
Dec. 16, 2020 - Number of Federal Executions Surpasses Total State Executions for First Time, as State Executions Hit Historic Low
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the year-end number of federal executions of civilians exceeds the total number of people executed by all states for the first time in history.The federal government resumed the death penalty in July 2020 and has executed 10 people since. The states executed a total of seven people: three by Texas, and one each by Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, state executions reached historic lows. New death sentences were also historically low at just 18 new death sentences country-wide as COVID-19 made trials difficult to hold safely.
Death Penalty Information Center, "The Death Penalty in 2020: Year End Report," deathpenaltyinfo.org, " Dec. 16, 2020
Jan. 13, 2020 - US Federal Government Executed First Woman since 1953
Lisa Montgomery, executed on Jan. 13, 2021, was the first woman to be executed by the federal government since the Dec. 18, 1953 execution of Bonnie Brown Heady, according to US Bureau of Prisons records. She was the only woman on federal death row and the eleventh person executed by the Trump administration.Christina Carrega, "Federal Government Executes the First Woman in Nearly 70 Years," cnn.com, Jan. 13, 2021
Jay Croft, "US Government to Execute First Woman since 1953," cnn.com, Oct. 17, 2020
Jan. 16, 2021 - US Federal Government Executed 13 Inmates under Trump Administration
On Jan. 16, 2021, the federal government executed Dustin Higgs, the thirteenth and final prisoner executed under the Trump administration, which carried out the first federal executions since 2003.Prior to 2020, the federal government had executed three people since 1963, all under President George W. Bush. That group included Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001.
The prisoners executed during the Trump administration were (date of execution in parentheses):
- Daniel Lee (July 14, 2020)
- Wesley Purkey (July 16, 2020)
- Dustin Honken (July 17, 2020)
- Lezmond Mitchell (Aug. 26, 2020)
- Keith Nelson Aug. 28, 2020)
- William LeCroy Jr. (Sep. 22, 2020)
- Christopher Vialva (Sep. 24, 2020)
- Orlando Hall (Nov. 19, 2020)
- Brandon Bernard (Dec. 10, 2020)
- Alfred Bourgeois (Dec. 11, 2020)
- Lisa Montgomery (Jan. 13, 2021)
- Corey Johnson (Jan. 14, 2021)
- Dustin Higgs (Jan. 16, 2021)
Jonathan Allen, "U.S. to Carry Out 13th and Final Execution under Trump Administration," reuters.com, Jan. 15, 2021
Barbara Campbell, "U.S. Executes Dustin Higgs in 13th and Final Execution under Trump Administration," npr.org, Jan. 16, 2021
Death Penalty Information Center, "Execution Database," deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Jan. 18, 2021)
Aris Folley, "Federal Government Carries Out 13th and Final Execution under Trump," thehill.com, Jan. 16, 2021
Mar. 24, 2021 - Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty
Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation abolishing the death penalty. The first southern US state to abolish the death penalty, Virginia had, as of Mar. 24, 2021, carried out the most executions in the United States since the country's first execution in Jamestown in 1608.Whitney Evans, “Virginia Governor Signs Law Abolishing the Death Penalty, a 1st in the South,” npr.org, Mar. 24, 2021
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