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1700 BCE
The Code of Hammurabi is the first document to ratify the death penalty.
In ancient Babylonia, the first written document ratifying the death penalty was created. It stated that there were 25 offences punishable by death. Surprisingly, murder was not one of these offences. -
The Founding Fathers Allow for Death Penalty When Writing Constitution
The Eighth Amendment, talks about "cruel and unusual punishments." for those who have committed serious offences. The Fifth Amendment also provides support for lethal punishment. No person, it reads, shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." That means the government may in fact deprive you of your life, but only after you've been fairly tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. -
From 1957-1972 many states moved towards abolishing the death penalty
This was the first big movement protesting the death penalty. 10 states ended the death penalty after T.V widely publicized the stories of prisoners on death row and prisoners wrote books about the terror of facing an inevitable end to their lives. -
Supreme court rules the death penalty unconstitutional
US Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Unconstitutional and Overturns over 600 Death Sentences. The death penalty was soon -
United Nations General Assembly talks about the Death Penalty for the first time
United Nations General Assembly Passes a Resolution Calling for a Moratorium on the Death Penalty. -
First Execution by Lethal Injection
Ohio Performs the First Execution with a One-Drug Intravenous Lethal Injection -
Last Execution by Firing Squad
Utah executed convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad. Since then there have been no executions by firing squad. -
Sole Firm Stops Making Key Death Penalty Drug
The sole U.S. maker of the anesthetic used in executions announced it would stop manufacturing sodium thiopental to prevent its product from being used to put prisoners to death. -
US Death Penalty Support at Lowest Level in over 40 Years
Sixty percent of Americans said they favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, the lowest level of support measured since November 1972, when 57% were in favor. -
Tommy Arthur was executed after dodging the death penalty on 7 different occasions
This case had a ton of controversy, with people protesting the death penalty in Alabama. Tommy Arthur who had avoided seven execution dates was put to death, capping years of litigation challenging the humaneness of lethal injection.
