Capital punishment is currently a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Kansas, although it has not been used since 1965. [1]
From 1853 to 1965, 76 executions were carried out under Kansas' jurisdiction. [2] All but one, the first, were by hanging. [3] These do not include executions that took place at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth and United States Disciplinary Barracks; while located within Kansas borders, these hangings were performed under federal government and U.S. military jurisdiction respectively.
Kansas first abolished capital punishment on January 30, 1907. The state restored it in 1935, albeit no executions took place until 1944. [4] From 1954 to 1960, there were no hangings in Kansas, as Governor George Docking refused to let any execution proceed due to his opposition to capital punishment. The last execution in Kansas took place on June 22, 1965 (double hanging of George York and James Latham). [4]
Perhaps the most infamous Kansas death penalty case was that of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, sentenced for the 1959 murder of a farming family. The crime, trial and 1965 execution were a subject of Truman Capote's 1966 bestselling documentary novel In Cold Blood .
After the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia permitted states to reinstate the death penalty, the Kansas legislature made numerous attempts to do so, but Governor John W. Carlin vetoed such legislation in 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1985. [5] The death penalty was eventually reinstated on April 23, 1994. Of states that still allow the death penalty, Kansas was the last to reinstate the death penalty in the modern era. [5] The law became effective on July 1, after then-Governor Joan Finney, despite her proclaimed opposition to capital punishment, decided to allow the bill to become law without her signature. [5] The only crime punishable by death is first degree murder with the aggravating factors. [6] Despite the reinstatement, no one has been executed since.
When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, upon conviction a sentence of death is decided by the jury. Such decision must be unanimous.
In the event of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death. There is no retrial or rehearing. [7]
The Governor of Kansas has the power of clemency in capital cases, which they may exercise after receiving a non-binding recommendation from a board. [8]
In 2004, the Kansas Supreme Court in a 4 to 3 decision ruled that the state's death penalty statute was unconstitutional. [9] The decision was later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Marsh (2005), effectively reinstating the statute.
Capital murder is punishable by death if it involves one of the following aggravating factors: [10]
Currently, there are 9 people on death row, all males. [11] Lethal injection is the only permitted method of execution. [11]
Generally, death sentences are rarely issued in Kansas. [12] [4]
There is no "death row" in Kansas, as inmates are housed at the El Dorado Correctional Facility along with other inmates in administrative segregation. [13]
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. Capital punishment is, in practice, only applied for aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, only 20 states have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums. The existence of capital punishment in the United States can be traced to early colonial Virginia. Along with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, the United States is one of five advanced democracies and the only Western nation that applies the death penalty regularly. It is one of 54 countries worldwide applying it, and was the first to develop lethal injection as a method of execution, which has since been adopted by five other countries. The Philippines has since abolished executions, and Guatemala has done so for civil offenses, leaving the United States as one of four countries to still use this method. It is common practice for the condemned to be administered sedatives prior to execution, regardless of the method used.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana. The last man executed in the state, excluding federal executions at Terre Haute, was the murderer Matthew Wrinkles in 2009.
In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is a legal penalty. However it is not allowed to be carried out as of March 2019, because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to the moratorium, executions were frozen by a federal court order since 2006, and the litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Thus, there will be a court-ordered moratorium on executions after the termination of Newsom's moratorium if capital punishment remains a legal penalty in California by then.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Utah.
Capital punishment in the state of Washington was abolished on October 11, 2018 when the state Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional as applied. On September 10, 2010, Cal Coburn Brown became the last person to be executed in Washington State before it was abolished in 2018.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Capital punishment in Connecticut formerly existed as an available sanction for a criminal defendant upon conviction for the commission of a capital offense. Since the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia until Connecticut repealed capital punishment in 2012, Connecticut had only executed one person, Michael Bruce Ross in 2005. Initially, the 2012 law allowed executions to proceed for those still on death row and convicted under the previous law, but on August 13, 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that applying the death penalty only for past cases was unconstitutional.
Capital punishment in Alabama is a legal penalty. The state has the highest per capita capital sentencing rate in the United States. In some years, its courts impose more death sentences than Texas, a state that has a population five times as large. However, Texas has a higher rate of executions both in absolute terms and per capita.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Idaho.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Wyoming.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
Capital punishment was abolished in Colorado in 2020. It was legal from 1974 until 2020 prior to it being abolished. All valid death sentences as of 2020 have since been commuted to life sentences by governor Jared Polis.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The only crime punishable by death is first degree murder. American Samoa last executed a prisoner on 24 November 1939, with hanging used as the method of execution, making capital punishment de facto abolished.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Montana.
Capital punishment in Delaware was abolished after being declared unconstitutional by the Delaware Supreme Court on August 2, 2016. The ruling retroactively applies to earlier death sentences, and remaining Delaware death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Despite this, the capital statute for first-degree murder under Title 11, Chapter 42, Section 09, of the Delaware Code has yet to be repealed, though it is unenforceable.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Tennessee.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Pennsylvania.