Death Penalty
THE DEATH PENALTY…ETHICAL? OR NOT?
Outline
1608 Captain George Kendall becomes the first recorded execution in the new colonies
1632 Jane Champion is the first woman executed
1767 Cesare Beccaria’s essay On Crime and Punishment, theorizes that there is no justification for the state to take a life
Late 1700’s United States abolitionist movement begins
Early 1800’s many states reduce their number of capital punishment crimes & build state penitentiaries
1834 Pennsylvania becomes the first state to move executions into correctional facilities
1846 Michigan becomes the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason
1890 William Kemler becomes the first person executed by electrocution
Early 1900’s beginning of the Progressive Period of reform in the United States
1907-1917 Nine states abolish the death penalty for all crimes or strictly limit it
1920s-1940s American Abolition movement loses support
1924 The use of cyanide gas introduced as an execution method
1930s Executions reach the highest levels in American History- Average 167 per year
1966 Support of capital punishment reaches an all-time low A Gallup poll shows support of the death penalty at only 42%
June 1972 Furman v. Georgia. Supreme Court effectively voids 40 death penalty statuses and suspends the death penalty
1976- Gregg V. Georgia Guided discretion statutes approved. Death Penalty reinstated
January 17,1977 ten year moratorium on execution ends with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah
1977 Oklahoma becomes the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution
1977 Coker V Georgia held death penalty is an unconstitutional punishment for rape of an adult woman when the victim is not killed
December 7 1982 Charles brooks becomes the first person executed by lethal injection
1986 Ford V Wainwright Execution of insane persons banned
1988 Thompson V Oklahoma Executions of offenders age 15 & younger at the time of the crime is
Outline
1608 Captain George Kendall becomes the first recorded execution in the new colonies
1632 Jane Champion is the first woman executed
1767 Cesare Beccaria’s essay On Crime and Punishment, theorizes that there is no justification for the state to take a life
Late 1700’s United States abolitionist movement begins
Early 1800’s many states reduce their number of capital punishment crimes & build state penitentiaries
1834 Pennsylvania becomes the first state to move executions into correctional facilities
1846 Michigan becomes the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason
1890 William Kemler becomes the first person executed by electrocution
Early 1900’s beginning of the Progressive Period of reform in the United States
1907-1917 Nine states abolish the death penalty for all crimes or strictly limit it
1920s-1940s American Abolition movement loses support
1924 The use of cyanide gas introduced as an execution method
1930s Executions reach the highest levels in American History- Average 167 per year
1966 Support of capital punishment reaches an all-time low A Gallup poll shows support of the death penalty at only 42%
June 1972 Furman v. Georgia. Supreme Court effectively voids 40 death penalty statuses and suspends the death penalty
1976- Gregg V. Georgia Guided discretion statutes approved. Death Penalty reinstated
January 17,1977 ten year moratorium on execution ends with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah
1977 Oklahoma becomes the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution
1977 Coker V Georgia held death penalty is an unconstitutional punishment for rape of an adult woman when the victim is not killed
December 7 1982 Charles brooks becomes the first person executed by lethal injection
1986 Ford V Wainwright Execution of insane persons banned
1988 Thompson V Oklahoma Executions of offenders age 15 & younger at the time of the crime is