With which of the following methods of execution did wilkerson v. utah deal?
|
The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi 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 such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Show In the Tenth Century A.D., hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain. In the following century, William the Conqueror would not allow persons to be hanged or otherwise executed for any crime, except in times of war. This trend would not last, for in the Sixteenth Century, under the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed. Some common methods of execution at that time were boiling, burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quartering. Executions were carried out for such capital offenses as marrying a Jew, not confessing to a crime, and treason. The number of capital crimes in Britain continued to rise throughout the next two centuries. By the 1700s, 222 crimes were punishable by death in Britain, including stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. Because of the severity of the death penalty, many juries would not convict defendants if the offense was not serious. This lead to reforms of Britain’s death penalty. From 1823 to 1837, the death penalty was eliminated for over 100 of the 222 crimes punishable by death. (Randa, 1997) The Death Penalty in AmericaBritain 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. In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians. 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. 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) Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado^, Delaware,* Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire,** North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, [South Carolina], South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington*, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government ^Colorado abolished the death penalty prospectively on March 23, 2020, and those on death row at that time had their sentences commuted. * Delaware and Washington have declared their capital sentencing procedures unconstitutional and have resentenced all death-row prisoners to life without parole. **New Hampshire abolished the death penalty but the repeal may not apply retroactively, leaving a prisoner on death row facing possible execution. To find the drug protocols used by states, see State-by-State Lethal Injection. Electrocution 163 8 states (in South Carolina, electrocution is the primary method; the other 7 have lethal injection as primary method). [Alabama], [Arkansas], Florida, Kentucky, [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], South Carolina, [Tennessee] The supreme courts of Georgia (2001) and Nebraska (2008) have ruled that the use of the electric chair violates their state constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. Virginia had authorized the electric chair as a method of execution in some cases, but it repealed the death penalty in March 2021. Lethal Gas 11 7 states (all have lethal injection as primary method) [Alabama], Arizona, California, [Mississippi], Missouri, [Oklahoma], [Wyoming] Hanging 3 3 states* (all have lethal injection as primary method) *Includes two states that no longer have an active death penalty statute. Delaware, [New Hampshire],** Washington **New Hampshire abolished the death penalty but the repeal may not apply retroactively, leaving a prisoner on death row facing possible execution. Courts in Delaware and Washington struck down the states’ death penalty statutes and applied those rulings to all prisoners on the states’ death rows. Firing Squad 3 4 states (in South Carolina, electrocution is the primary method; the other states have lethal injection as primary method) What method of execution is used in Utah?- Lethal injection is the only method of execution for those sentenced to death after May 3, 2004. - If the court has held the defendant has a right to be executed by firing squad, that right is preserved. This would apply to defendants sentenced to death prior to May 3, 2004.
What is the most humane method of execution?Lethal injection avoids many of the unpleasant effects of other forms of execution: bodily mutilation and bleeding due to decapitation, smell of burning flesh in electrocution, disturbing sights or sounds in lethal gassing and hanging, the problem of involuntary defecation and urination.
Who was executed by firing squad in Utah?
When was the first execution in Utah?The spring 1850 garroting of Patsowits, a Ute, was the first recorded execution in the provisional State of Deseret. Utah Territory was established in September 1850, and it permitted condemned prisoners to choose between hanging and firing squad.
|
