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The Death Penalty in America
Britain influenced America's use of the death penalty more than any other country. When European settlers came to the new world, they brought the practice of capital punishment. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain (The Death Penaly information Center) -
First women executed
Laws regarding the death penalty varied from colony to colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony held its first execution in 1630, even though the Capital Laws of New England did not go into effect until years later. In 1632 Jane Campion was the first women executed in the new colonies. The New York Colony instituted the Duke's Laws of 1665. Under these laws, offenses such as striking one's mother or father, or denying the "true God," were punishable by death. (Randa, 1997) (DPIC) -
Pennsylvania Limits Crimes Punishable by Death to Treason and Murder
Pennsylvania founder William Penn convened his first General Assembly at Chester, PA, on Dec. 4, 1682. Following a debate on Pennsylvania's Frame of Government, the conference produced The Great Law or Body of Laws, which consisted of 61 chapters dictating the governance of Pennsylvania. It included the original Quaker criminal code which limited crimes punishable by death to premeditated murder and treason. Penn replaced the death penalty and bodily punishments with imprisonment (ProCon) -
The Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon
The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by crucifi (ProCon) -
Beccaria's Thoery
Cesare Beccaria's 1767 essay, On Crimes and Punishment, that had an especially strong impact throughout the world. In the essay, Beccaria theorized that there was no justification for the state's taking of a life. The essay gave abolitionists an authoritative voice and renewed energy, one result of which was the abolition of the death penalty in Austria and Tuscany.
American intellectuals as well were influenced by Beccaria. The first attempted reforms of the death penalty were made (DPIC) -
PA Attorney General's Writings
"One of the first American documents in the discussion of the death penalty was An Inquiry How Far the Punishment of Death is Necessary in Pennsylvania, published in 1793 by William Bradford, Pennsylvania's attorney-general. He concluded that the death penalty made it harder for the state to convict the guilty in some cases because juries did not want to sentence people to death. The new laws that curbed capital punishment, in 1790’s reflected the classes of crime.” (ProCon) -
Public Execution are switched to private hangings
Many states enacted laws providing private hangings. Rhode Island (1833), Pennsylvania (1834), New York (1835), Massachusetts (1835), and New Jersey (1835) all abolished public hangings. By 1849, fifteen states were holding private hangings. This move was opposed by many death penalty abolitionists who thought public executions would eventually cause people to cry out against execution itself. For example, in 1835, Maine enacted what was in effect a moratorium on capital punishment (ProCon) -
Abolotionist Movement
In the early to mid-Nineteenth Century, the abolitionist movement gained momentum in the northeast. In the early part of the century, many states reduced the number of their capital crimes and built state penitentiaries.In 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to move executions away from the public eye and carrying them out in correctional facilities.
In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason (DPIC) -
The introduction of Cyanide Gas
In 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced, as Nevada sought a more humane way of executing its inmates. Gee Jon was the first person executed by lethal gas. The state tried to pump cyanide gas into Jon's cell while he slept, but this proved impossible, and the gas chamber was constructed. (Bohm, 1999) (DPIC) -
14th Amendment is a challenge to the Death Penalty
The Fourteenth Amendment states: "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Fourteenth Amendment was cited in the June 29, 1972 Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia which ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. It was also cited in the Mar. 1, 2005 Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons which ruled unconstitutional for under the age of 18 (DPIC) -
Lethal Injection
The ten-year moratorium on executions that had begun with the Jackson and Witherspoon decisions ended on January 17, 1977, with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah. Gilmore did not challenge his death sentence. That same year, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution, though it would be five more years until Charles Brooks became the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 7, 1982 (DPIC) -
Human Rights Commission
In April 1999, the United Nations Human Rights Commission passed the Resolution Supporting Worldwide Moratorium on Executions. The resolution calls on countries which have not abolished the death penalty to restrict its use of the death penalty, including not imposing it on juvenile offenders and limiting the number of offenses for which it can be imposed (DPIC) -
Legislation to repeal
On January 6, 2011, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 60-54 to repeal the death penalty. On January 11, the Senate followed suit, passing the bill by a 32-25 margin. Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill on March 9, 2011, making Illinois the 16th state without the death penalty. The following are quotes from Illinois legislators and governor concerning their votes on the repeal bill (DPIC)
