In the United States, Governments choose to assign the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, to people who commit murder or other capital crimes (1); However, due to the fact that the eighth amendment and the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment ban cruel or unusual punishment being inflicted for state crimes, there have been many debates about whether the death penalty is constitutional. When considering whether the punishment is cruel or unusual, two factors are taken into account: the method, the amount and whether the punishment fits the crime. In recent years, federal and state courts in the us have used the following methods of administering the death penalty: shooting, hanging, electrocution and lethal injection. Both courts have also stated that they believe these methods to be constitutional; However, beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, people have started protesting against the use of the penalty for various reasons (2). In the following essay, I’ll be giving a brief history of changes in the application of the death penalty in the United States from the 1950s until today.
After the Second World War, many of the allied nations got rid of their death penalty and, starting in the 1950s, many American citizens also started to dislike the death penalty (3). In fact in 1957, Alaska and Hawaii both banned capital punishment (though they were not the first states to do so) (5). In the 1960s, in addition to disliking the death penalty, people started to really contest it. Before then, they felt that the death penalty was not a violation of the fifth, eighth or fourteenth amendment. However, during that time period, people started to believe that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment. According the the Gallup poll, in 1966, only 42% of US citizens supported the death penalty (3). In 1964, Vermont banned capital punishment and Iowa and West Virginia abolished the death penalty a year later (5). In June 1972, due to relevant arguments in the Furman vs. Georgia case collection, 40 death penalty statutes were voided and the death penalty was suspended throughout the entire country. Though the Supreme Court voided specific statutes, states were still allowed to write their own death penalty laws. Therefore, in 1976, the death penalty was reinstated. Florida was the first state to rewrite their death penalty statutes and shortly thereafter, 34 states followed suit (3). However, North Dakota was not one of them because in 1973, they abolished the death penalty entirely (5). In 1977, Oklahoma was the first state to use lethal injection; a new, improved and supposedly constitutional version of the death penalty (3). Massachusetts and Rhode Island banned capital punishment in 1983 (5). In 1986, the execution of mentally insane people was no longer permitted; However, that law was repealed in 1989. In 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which “expanded the federal death penalty” (3).
In 2002, due to the Atkins vs. Virginia case, the execution of mentally retarded people was banned once again. In 2005, the US Supreme Court banned the executions of individuals who were younger than 18 years old and in 2007, New Jersey was the first state to ban the death penalty judicially (3). New York banned capital punishment that same year (5). In 2009, Governor Bill Richardson signed legislation that stated that in New Mexico, instead of receiving the death penalty, prisoners would now be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2011, Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois did the same thing (3). In 2012, the state of Connecticut banned the death penalty and in 2013, so did Maryland. Just last year (2016), the state of Delaware also abolished their death penalty (5).
Today, 35 states in the United States still administer the death penalty or have a government-imposed moratorium; However, many states have abolished the death penalty in recent years (5). Why the change? Laws have changed mainly because of the eighth amendment. The US Supreme Court determined that the punishment needs to fit the crime otherwise it is cruel or unusual punishment and a violation of human rights. They also determined that administering the death penalty shouldn’t cause any unnecessary pain (1). In addition to this, many American citizens didn’t want innocents to die for crimes they did not commit nor did they want to be prosecuted for their race, religion or gender (4). What will the US Supreme Court do next? Stay tuned.