Death Penalty; a timeline

By anxhelacorri
  • 1701 BCE

    First Established Death Penalty Law

    First Established Death Penalty Law
    The first established death penalty laws date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. This could be found in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. This was engraved on stone tablets for the public to see. The death penalty was prescribed for over 20 different offenses.

  • Captain George Kendal

    Captain George Kendal
    Captain Kendal becomes the first recorded execution in the new colonies. This took place in Virginia in 1608. He was exceeded for spying.

  • Jane Champion

    Jane Champion
    Jane Campion became the first women to be executed in the colonies. She was also executed in Virginia for murder.

  • On Crimes and Punishment

    On Crimes and Punishment
    Cesare Beccaria's, On Crimes and Punishment, theorizes that there is no justification for the state to take a life. "In order that any punishment should not be an act of violence committed by one person or many against a private citizen, it is essential that it should be public, prompt, necessary, the minimum possible under the given circumstances... "

  • Pennsylvania

    Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania becomes the first state to move executions into correctional facilities. Before this year, Pennsylvania executed people by hanging them, however in 1834, they outlawed public executions to the gallows to county prisons.

  • Michigan

    Michigan
    In 1847, Michigan becomes the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason.

  • Electricity Introduced

    Electricity Introduced
    William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electrocution. He was convicted of murdering his lover, Matilda Ziegler with an axe.

  • Cyanide Gas

    Cyanide Gas
    The use of cyanide gas is introduced as a method for execution. Cyanide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical that can exist in various forms. Cyanide can be a colorless gas etc..."

  • Thompson v. Oklahoma

    Thompson v. Oklahoma
    Executions of offenders age fifteen and younger at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional. At the age of 15 Thompson was tied as an adult for first degree murder. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Thompson v. Oklahoma that mere deterrence is not a valid reason for a jury or judge to sentence a 15-year-old juvenile to the death penalty.

  • New York

    New York
    New York’s death penalty law declared unconstitutional by the state’s high court, the New York Court of Appeals.