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First execution by Death Penalty
Captain George Kendall becomes the first recorded execution in the new colonies. -
First women executed
Jane Champion was the first women executed by death penalty -
beginning of death penalty's moving to prisons
Pennsylvania is the first state to move executions into penitentiaries. -
Michigan abolishes the death penalty
only time prisoners are eligible for execution is with treason -
Nine states abolish the death penalty
Abolished for all crimes or are strictly limited -
Cyanide Gas is introduced to capital punishment
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Executions reach highest amout ever recorded
The U.S. executed an average of 167 people per year -
Lethal Injection is adopted
Oklahoma becomes the first state to introduce the idea of lethal injection -
Velma Barfield executed
First women executed since reinstatement of Death Penalty -
Thompson vs. Oklahoma
Executions of offenders age fifteen and younger at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional. -
Penry vs. Lynaugh
Executing people with “mental retardation” is not a violation of the Eighth Amendment. -
President Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
Expands federal death penalty -
Pope John Paul II visits St. Louis, Missouri
Calls for an end to the death penalty -
New York’s death penalty law declared unconstitutional by the state’s high court
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Kennedy vs. Louisiana
Death penalty cannot apply to those convicted of child rape where no death occurs -
Governor Bill Richardson signs legislation to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico
Replaced with life in prison without parole -
Sole Firm Stops Making Key Death Penalty Drug
stopped manufacturing sodium thiopental to prevent its product from being used to put prisoners to death -
Connecticut Repeals the Death Penalty
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Maryland Becomes 18th State to Repeal the Death Penalty
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US Death Penalty Support at Lowest Level in over 40 Years
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Supreme Court Upholds Use of Execution Drug Midazolam
The Supreme Court said states can continue to conduct executions using the sedative midazolam, rejecting claims the drug poses too great a risk that condemned prisoners will suffer excruciating pain -
Nebraska Voters Reinstate the Death Penalty
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Synthetic Opioid Fentanyl Used for the First Time in a Lethal Injection Execution
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Majority of Americans Support Life in Prison instead of Death Penalty for the First Time in 34 Years
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Supreme Court Keeps Federal Executions on Hold until Lower Court Ruling
