Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Kentucky .
Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Kentucky since 2008, and only three since 1976. The most recent execution was of Marco Allen Chapman, who was executed for two murders.
Capital punishment in Kentucky has been indefinitely suspended by court order since 2009. [1]
When the Commonwealth's Attorney seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous.
Kentucky is the only state without provision on what happens if the penalty phase of the trial results in a hung jury. Thus, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that in cases that end with a hung jury, the judge must order a penalty retrial, applying the common law rule for mistrial. [2]
All sentences of death are automatically appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. Death sentences shall, in theory, be carried out on the fifth Friday following the affirmation of the sentence by the Supreme Court. However, if the sentence is not carried out because of stays or any other reason, the governor may appoint another day of execution and may continue to do so until the sentence is carried into effect. [3] The governor also has the sole power of clemency with respect to death sentences. [4]
Among Kentucky death row inmates is Ralph Baze, who unsuccessfully challenged Kentucky lethal injection protocol before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2008 case Baze v. Rees , which caused the staying of all executions in the entire United States between September 2007 and April 2008. Baze was sentenced to death for murdering Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe in 1992. The state is now trying to pass a law that would raise the minimum age of offenders eligible for the death penalty to 21 years of age at the time of their crimes. [5]
The aggravating factors making murder, kidnapping, or armed robbery punishable by death are the following: [6]
Some of these aggravated factors apply to the offenses of armed robbery and kidnapping. However, the death penalty for these offenses is no longer allowed, as they have been declared unconstitutional since the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Louisiana.
The Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville houses all of Kentucky's male death row inmates. [7] Female death row inmates are housed at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women in unincorporated Shelby County, near Pewee Valley. All executions occur at the Kentucky State Penitentiary. [8]
The method of execution is lethal injection, but a prisoner condemned before March 31, 1998, may choose to be electrocuted instead. Electrocution is also authorized in the event that lethal injection is found unconstitutional by a court. [9]
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. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 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, Singapore, and Taiwan, the United States is one of four 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 punishment under the criminal justice system of the United States federal government. It is the most serious punishment that could be imposed under federal law. The serious crimes that warrant this punishment include treason, espionage, murder, large-scale drug trafficking, or attempted murder of a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
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.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Ohio, although all executions have been suspended indefinitely by Governor Mike DeWine until a replacement for lethal injection is chosen by the Ohio General Assembly. The last execution in the state was in July 2018, when Robert J. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for murder.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Utah.
The U.S. state of Washington enforced capital punishment until the state's capital punishment statute was declared null and void and abolished in practice by a state Supreme Court ruling on October 11, 2018. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional as applied due to racial bias however it did not render the wider institution of capital punishment unconstitutional and rather required the statute to be amended to eliminate racial biases. From 1904 to 2010, 78 people were executed by the state; the last was Cal Coburn Brown on September 10, 2010. In April 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB5087 which formally abolished capital punishment in Washington State and removed provisions for capital punishment from state law.
Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Old Sparky is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Old Smokey was the nickname of the electric chairs used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. "Old Sparky" is sometimes used to refer to electric chairs in general, and not one of a specific state.
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.
Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which upheld the constitutionality of a particular method of lethal injection used for capital punishment.
Capital punishment in Alabama is a legal penalty. Alabama 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 Wyoming.
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 Mississippi.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia reintroduced the death penalty in 1973 after Furman v. Georgia ruled all states' death penalty statutes unconstitutional. The first execution to take place afterwards occurred in 1983.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Montana.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Tennessee.
Capital punishment in Missouri first used in 1810 is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Missouri.