Has capital punishment been banned in America?

Answer 1

Federal law and the laws in 35 of the 50 stats allow the death penalty.

As of October 2009, fourteen states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty; and New York has declared a portion of its capital punishment statute unconstitutional. The difference between New York's status and that of the other listed states is that, while their judiciary nullified a portion of the current death penalty law, the state hasn't passed legislation officially banning capital punishment.

New Mexico is the most recent state to declare state-sponsored executions illegal, in 2009.

1. Alaska.......................1957
2. Hawaii.......................1948
3. Iowa.........................1965
   
4. Maine........................1887
5. Massachusetts............1984
6. Michigan....................1846
7. Minnesota..................1911
8. North Dakota..............1973
9. Rhode Island..............1984
10. Vermont....................1964
11. West Virginia..............1965
12. Wisconsin..................1853
13. Washington, DC..........1981
14. New Jersey.................2007
    
15. New Mexico................2009
16. New York...................2004, 2007*

* State death penalty statute declared unconstitutional.

Conversely, Texas leads the nation in the number of prisoners executed since 1976, at 441. Virginia runs a distant second with 103 executions in that time; Oklahoma is third with 91.

Answer 2

yes it should be allowed because if they get out of jail they might come after u for telling or because they might have murdered u or kidnapped u the first time they tried to and if u think it should not be it may happen to u and u might learn a life leson

Answer 3

No. Capital Punishment is considered a state's rights issue, unless the US Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional under the US Constitution. At present, the Supreme Court allows the death penalty for people who are or were adults when they committed the capital crime (execution has been declared unconstitutional for juveniles), and who aren't protected by certain mental conditions.

The death penalty has been banned in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia. The state of New York has not officially banned capital punishment, but still has a law on their books allowing it. The New York Supreme Court declared part of the law unconstitutional in 2004, but the legislature has made no effort to rewrite or reinstate the law.

Thirty-five states still have capital punishment statutes, although their use of these laws varies considerably.

For the lists of states, see Related Questions, below.

Answer 4

Hanging was once the most common form of execution in the United States, but is rarely used today. Only two states, Washington and New Hampshire, offer the condemned the option of hanging or lethal injection.

Only two inmates have chosen this form of death since the US Supreme Court lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in 1976:

Washington: Westley Allen Dodd ("the volunteer"), in January 1993
Washington: Charles Campbell, in May 1994

New Hampshire reserves the right to use hanging if lethal injection proves impossible, but has not hanged anyone since executing Howard Long, in July 1939. Long was also the last of only 24 people executed in New Hampshire since the 17th century.

Although New Hampshire reinstated the death penalty in January 1991, they have yet to exercise this option. As of November 2, 2009, there is only one person on the state's death row.

Answer 5

No, it has not. In some places like Texas, Utah and Virginia capital punishment is legal.

Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin are the states that have banned or abolished capital punishment.

Answer 6

yes it does, but only for very specific reasons

Answer 7

yes