The Death Penalty in America

The death penalty in the United States, really, only applies in cases of aggravated murder. In rare instances, though, it has also been known to come up in felony murder cases. The concept of capital punishment actually predates the U.S., and has a long and storied history of causing controversy regarding its use and effectiveness at deterring crime for as long as it has existed.

The ways that the executions would occur and the crimes which would ultimately lead to the punishment have depended largely on the jurisdictions involved. All in all, 32 jurisdictions have banned the death penalty by law. Some of the states not in that group have currently suspended its use; while other states are looking to expand the way it is applied.

In 2008, the United States executed the fewest number of people since 1994 with 37 cases total. In 2010, there were 46 total executions – with 44 occurring by lethal injection, one by electric chair and one by firing squad.

According to a 2010 Gallup poll, 64 percent of Americans favored the death penalty in cases of murder. Over the course of the past decade, the numbers regarding the death penalty -- both for and against -- have remained fairly constant. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, there was a substantially more supportive thought process as it related to capital punishment. Years of opposition from a number of fronts, though, have taken its toll on the public perception of the matter.

Much of the hesitation regarding the death penalty in the 2000s began after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Baze v. Rees. It was at that point, that many states opted to slow down or completely stop executions until the case could be examined in court. And while many states kept a moratorium on death penalties going strong even after it was made clear that the proceedings should not stop the usage of the death penalty across America, some states did choose to return to business as usual shortly thereafter.

The death penalty has had a very long and controversial history in America, and given the contentious feelings that still exist on the topic today, it’s unlikely that debates regarding it will get any less heated any time soon.