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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used in Britain and Ireland from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and took place in 1964; capital punishment for murder was suspended in 1965 and finally abolished in 1969. Although unused, the death penalty remained a legally defined punishment for certain offences such as treason until it was completely abolished in 1998; the last person to be executed for treason was William Joyce, in 1946. In 2004, Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights became binding on the United Kingdom; it prohibits the restoration of the death penalty as long as the UK is a party to the convention.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty in 27 states, throughout the country at the federal level, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in the other 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 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana. The last person executed in the state, excluding federal executions in Terre Haute, was mass murderer Joseph Edward Corcoran in 2024.
Capital punishment was abolished in 2019 in New Hampshire for persons convicted of capital murder. It remains a legal penalty for crimes committed prior to May 30, 2019.
Sarah Simpson was a widow executed by hanging for the murder of her child in the Province of New Hampshire. She was executed with Penelope Kenny, who was also convicted of killing her child.
Ruth Blay was a schoolteacher executed by the Province of New Hampshire. She was the last female executed in New Hampshire.
Oscar Joseph Comery was a Canadian-American chauffeur hanged in Concord, New Hampshire for murdering his wife.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Japan. The Penal Code of Japan and several laws list 14 capital crimes. In practice, though, it is applied only for aggravated murder. Executions are carried out by long drop hanging, and take place at one of the seven execution chambers located in major cities across the country. The only crime punishable by a mandatory death sentence is instigation of foreign aggression.
Capital punishment in Sweden was last used in 1910, though it remained a legal sentence for at least some crimes until 1973. It is now outlawed by the Swedish Constitution, which states that capital punishment, corporal punishment, and torture are strictly prohibited. At the time of the abolition of the death penalty in Sweden, the legal method of execution was beheading. It was one of the last states in Europe to abolish the death penalty.
Capital punishment in Australia has been abolished in all jurisdictions since 1985. Queensland abolished the death penalty in 1922. Tasmania did the same in 1968. The Commonwealth abolished the death penalty in 1973, with application also in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Victoria did so in 1975, South Australia in 1976, and Western Australia in 1984. New South Wales abolished the death penalty for murder in 1955, and for all crimes in 1985. In 2010, the Commonwealth Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the re-establishment of capital punishment by any state or territory. Australian law prohibits the extradition or deportation of a prisoner to another jurisdiction if they could be sentenced to death for any crime.
Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for a crime in which the victim did not die and the victim's death was not intended.
Howard Long was an American convicted murderer who was executed for the 1937 murder of 10-year-old Mark Neville Jensen in Gilford, New Hampshire. Long remains the most recent person to be executed by the state of New Hampshire.
Capital punishment was abolished in the U.S. state of New Mexico in 2009.
Capital punishment was outlawed in the State of New York after the New York Court of Appeals declared that the statute as written was not valid under the state's constitution in 2004. However certain crimes occurring in the state that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.
Capital punishment in New Jersey is currently abolished, after Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine signed a law repealing it in 2007. Before this, capital punishment was used and at least 361 people have been executed.
Capital punishment in Peru was last used in 1979. In the same year, the death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes. Peru is one of seven countries that has abolished capital punishment for "ordinary crimes only." Peru voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Peru is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Capital punishment refers to the execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction of a criminal offense. Capital punishment is legal in Afghanistan and can be carried out secretly or publicly due to the current governmental system. The main methods of execution employed by the Afghan government on convicts are hangings and shootings. Stoning, amputation, and flogging are also sometimes used as a method for punishment, and were especially prominent during the late 1990s. Public executions have existed throughout Afghanistan's history. The former Afghan government took important steps away from the use of the death penalty, but they have continued with the Taliban returning to power in August 2021. Some executions have been recently condemned by the United Nations. UN experts have called on Afghan authorities "to halt immediately all forms of torturous, cruel, and degrading forms of punishments." The capital offenses in Afghanistan include a range of crimes from murder to adultery, and are governed by Sharia, along with civil laws.
Capital punishment in Botswana is a legal penalty, and is usually applied for murder under aggravated circumstances. Executions are carried out by hanging. Despite this, Botswana’s constitution guarantees right to life. It is the only country in Southern Africa that still uses capital punishment as a punishment.
References
- ↑ Women who kill
- ↑ Ferland, Dr David (2014-05-27). Historic Crimes & Justice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625847140.
