Is there a death penalty in the state of Florida? The Dark Side of America: The Death Penalty in the United States
Many people know that it is allowed in the USA the death penalty. Almost everyone will answer the question “Is there a death penalty in the United States” in the affirmative? But not many realize the significance of this fact.
The fact is that the United States is the only “Western” (that is, following European cultural standards) country in which such a measure of punishment is allowed. And although there are certain historical and cultural reasons for this, which we will talk about a little below, the very fact of the presence and active use of the death penalty as a punishment says a lot about the severity of laws in the United States.
On the other hand, the existence of the death penalty in the United States is often exaggerated, turning it from a cultural phenomenon into a sign of ruthlessness or even inhumanity. But the fact remains that this measure is not applied thoughtlessly, and one must manage to “earn” it.
In the 500 years of recorded history of the United States and the North American colonies, fewer than 20,000 death sentences were imposed—mostly on incorrigible criminals.
Also, few people know how many states allow the death penalty, for what crimes it can be imposed, how exactly criminals are executed, etc., preferring to rely on information from movies or television, often embellished.
Although the truth is at times much more interesting - the same Wikipedia offers a completely different picture. Therefore, we decided to create our own material, unbiased and based on real facts.
Before discussing the current situation with the death penalty in the United States, let's try to understand why America has this penalty in the first place.
A Brief History of the Death Penalty in the United States
As everyone knows, in certain period America's history has been characterized by Indians, brave settlers, and cowboys on horseback. But few people know how long this period lasted. In the minds of people who were not interested in US history, the Frontier era in the US usually ends somewhere around the 19th century, during the Civil War.
But in fact, in the western states this culture flourished even during the Great Depression - at the beginning of the 20th century. When Al Capone was already building his criminal empire on the east coast of North America, gangs of train raiders still continued to exist on the west coast. It was this transition from one brutal and widespread form of crime to another, with no time of peace in between, that led to the lack of a moratorium on the death penalty - something that Europe was actively promoting at precisely this time.
Before the eyes of both civilian Americans and representatives of the law, there were inveterate, desperate criminals - villains who could only be stopped by the fear of the death penalty. Therefore, the death penalty in America, which was an excellent bogeyman for dashing cowboys, continued to fulfill the same role for no less dashing mafiosi.
Only the method changed - if cowboys were hanged, then the “employees” of various capos were usually shot, until the practice of using the electric chair was introduced. But even during this period it was not easy to obtain such a punishment.
All this leads to the idea that the presence of the death penalty in the United States is not a manifestation of inhumanity, but rather a necessary evil, which only in the late 60s (with the introduction of the RICO act, which dealt a crushing blow to the mafia) became completely unnecessary. And in the USA they also understood this - in 1972, in the framework of the case “Furman v. State of Georgia”, Supreme Court The US has rejected the death penalty in nine consecutive cases, setting a precedent. For the next five years, the death penalty was not used in the United States.
In 1976, after much debate, the practice was allowed again in the case of Gregg v. State of Georgia. The US Supreme Court has radically changed the way the death penalty is imposed, making the process much more difficult. The first person executed under the new system was the robber and murderer Gary Gilmore, who was shot in January 1977. The case is interesting because Gilmore insisted on the death penalty for himself, abandoning all chances of pardon.
THIS IS INTERESTING: During the 1998 presidential debate between Bush and Dukakis, Dukakis, when asked whether he would seek the death penalty for a hypothetical murderer of his family, responded in the negative. The Bush administration turned this statement into an entire negative PR campaign that portrayed Dukakis as soft, which led to his defeat. Since then, no US presidential candidate has opposed the death penalty.
Death penalty in modern USA
Currently, the death penalty in the United States is legal in 31 states, as well as in federal criminal cases and court-martial cases.
The vast majority use lethal injection to carry out the sentence, but some states allow other types of execution - electroshock, firing squad or gas inhalation. They are used at the request of the sentenced person or if the injection is considered inhumane - for example, in case of an acute allergic reaction in the sentenced person to its components.
Which US states have the death penalty?
Currently, the death penalty is legal in the following states:
- Alabama
- Idaho
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Wyoming
- Washington
- Virginia
- Georgia
- Indiana
- California
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Florida
- South Dakota
- South Carolina
THIS IS INTERESTING: Sometimes especially dangerous criminals are specially transferred to states where the death penalty is allowed from states where it is not allowed. But this only applies to crimes that are considered at the federal level.
For what crimes is the defendant sentenced to death?
Case law and the US Constitution define crimes worthy of the death penalty as “aggravated murder.” But what circumstances are considered aggravating is decided by the state. In California, for example, there are 22 such circumstances, but in New Hampshire there are only seven.
In practice, the death penalty is usually received for:
- Killing several people (the number is determined by the state, but in most cases, two is enough).
- Murder with preliminary torture.
- Murder of a child (the age limit is determined by the state, for example in Texas they only give the death penalty for the murders of children under 10 years old).
- Murder of a police officer.
- Murder with rape.
- Murder committed in prison.
IN this moment There is an active campaign to reduce the number of aggravating circumstances that give the prosecution the right to seek the death penalty.
Thus, almost all states have already abandoned the death penalty for crimes not related to murder, although some still adhere to the old order.
Also, the death penalty can be imposed for crimes against the state. Kennedy v. Louisiana defines these crimes as “treason, espionage, terrorism, and the creation of a drug trafficking network.”
Who can be sentenced to death?
Anyone can be sentenced to death in the United States—men, women, and even transgender people of any race are equal in the eyes of the law. The only exception are teenagers, for whom the ultimate punishment is prison, even for particularly serious crimes.
THIS IS INTERESTING: Despite the fact that a teenager cannot be sentenced to death, there is a trick in the laws that can lead to such a development of events. A teenager in the US has the right to appeal to a judge to be tried as an adult, which technically gives the court the right to give him the death penalty. In practice, this has never happened before.
How does the death penalty work?
After the court's decision, the condemned are transferred to a special cell, popularly called “death row.” Such cells are often single, with constant surveillance - either through video or in the form of a guard.
On the day the sentence is carried out, the condemned are offered their last meal - anything of his or her choice, within reasonable limits, of course. After this, they are transferred to the execution chamber, where they are given a lethal injection.
Usually three drugs are injected - an anesthetic, a paralytic and a poison to stop the heart. But some states choose to simply use a triple dose of the anesthetic, causing the inmate to die from an overdose.
Who can attend executions
In 1936, the US Supreme Court banned free entrance executions - before that, even children could theoretically be present at them. However, almost all states make exceptions for reporters, relatives of the convicted person and family members of the victim - of course, at their request.
The United States of America is accustomed to living according to its own concepts and the opinion of the world community is not a decree for them. Therefore, unlike Europe, they continue to practice punishing criminals with death.
In 2012, death sentences were carried out in 22 countries. The United States ranks fifth in terms of the number of executions. China is in first place, followed by Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Among the representatives of the top 5, the USA is the only liberal democracy.
Currently, the death penalty as a form of punishment is provided for by US federal law and the laws of 36 states. A feature of American legislation is that it allows minors to be subject to the death penalty. For example, in Mississippi - from the age of 13, in Missouri and Utah - from 14, in Arkansas - from 15 years. In 13 states, the age is not specified in the law at all, i.e. the issue is essentially decided by the court.
From 1976 to 2013 (inclusive), 1,348 convicts were executed in the United States, with the maximum number of executions occurring in the late 1990s (1998), after which their number per year gradually declines. In 2001, 66 criminals were executed in the United States, in 2002 - 71, and in 2006 - 53.
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The Westinghouse electric chair (classic) is made of solid oak. The wood is coated with heat-resistant paint, the same as the nose of the space shuttle. The belts are tightly adjusted to the figure of the executed person and are attached to the wrists, ankles and chest. Electrodes are brass or copper. One is attached to the front legs of the chair, the other is placed under a leather helmet placed on the head of the convict. A helmet with a chinstrap consists of two layers: leather (outer) and copper mesh (inner). The lining is sponge, which is soaked in a salt solution before execution (for better contact). |
The power cable runs from the helmet itself, along the floor, to the power source. The transformer increases the voltage to 2500 volts.
Within the United States, most executions occur in the southern states (1,010 executions from 1977 to 2013). Of these, more than half are in the states of Texas and Virginia. So in Texas, 508 people were executed over a quarter of a century, and in Virginia, which ranks second, 110 people were executed during the same period, and in Oklahoma - 109. currently can be used in six states: Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia (158 executions in 1976-2013). However, it is not really applied everywhere. In 2004, the electric chair was used in the United States only once - it was used by James Neil Tucker in South Carolina. In 2005 - never used. Used once again in 2006 to kill Brandon Hendrick in Virginia. True, sometimes among those on death row there are amateurs who prefer it to all other types of executions. Daryl Holton, 45, sentenced to death for the murders of his three sons and their half-sister, chose the electric chair over lethal injection. As a result, he was “roasted” on September 12, 2007. This marked the first use of the electric chair in Tennessee in 47 years.
Execution by gas chamber is theoretically permitted in the United States in five states: Arizona, Wyoming, California, Missouri and Maryland, but has been virtually unused since 1999 (11 uses since 1976). Its use is, first of all, influenced by the desire of the convicted person to die in the gas chamber and the duration of the crime he committed.
Execution is retained as a backup method of execution in two states, Idaho and Oklahoma. At the beginning of the century there were three of them, but on March 15, 2004, shooting was prohibited in the state of Utah. However, such a penalty was last used in Utah in 2010. The fact is that after the change in legislation, not all convicts decided to abandon their chosen execution option. On March 22, 2015, the Governor of Utah, Gary Herbert, signed a law adopted by the state Senate to return to execution of criminals sentenced to capital punishment. The state authorities had to take such measures due to problems with access to drugs used for lethal injections. That is, this is also a fallback option for the death penalty.
Total in the USA in 1976-2013. 3 people were shot.
In addition, some states provide death penalty by hanging-- 3 convicts were hanged. By the way, the first person sentenced to death in the United States, a certain John Billington, was hanged for his murder on September 30, 1630.
The most common type of execution in the United States is lethal injection(1176 cases during the specified period). The injection method is considered superior because it does not violate the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment. Until February 8, 2008, Nebraska was the only state with the death penalty that did not use injection. The only method of killing convicted criminals in this state was the electric chair. However, on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that execution by electric chair was “cruel and unusual punishment” and executions were suspended until a new method of execution was approved.
Opponents of the death penalty continue to try to prove that lethal injection is far from a humane method of killing. Therefore, they carefully note all cases of “marriage” in the process of executing punishments. It happens that during the execution the solution supply tubes break, which slows down the death of the convicted person and makes it truly painful. In addition, the human factor often comes into play when the “executioners” cannot get a needle into the vein of the condemned person for a long time. In 2005, a group of American scientists came to the conclusion that animals are euthanized more efficiently than criminals. And this probably influenced the decision of 11 states to suspend its use.
A fairly large wave of protests against the death penalty was caused by the unsuccessful attempt to execute the American Romel Broome, sentenced to death, in September 2009. It's no joke - they failed to give him a lethal injection 18 times in a row. However, this is far from an isolated case: from time to time, technology for carrying out death sentences fails, and as a result, some convicts die in terrible agony.
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Romel Broome, convicted in 1984 of the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl (documents in the case are available here), waited almost 25 years to carry out his death sentence. He spent all this time in prison in Lucasville, Ohio. Time X for him came at 14.00 on September 15, 2009 - on this day the doctors were supposed to administer a lethal injection to the criminal. Forensic doctors attempted to inject Broome at exactly the appointed time. However, they failed: the needle hit a muscle instead of a vein. The next few attempts also did not bring results: the veins on the convict’s arms seemed to have disappeared. The syringe needle broke, and Broom’s hands literally began to swell before his eyes. The nurses who came to the rescue tried to remove the tumors using wet compresses, while the doctors continued to try to give an injection. The execution lasted more than two hours. Broom began to writhe in pain. His swollen hands were punctured, but death still did not occur. The prison authorities were forced to stop the execution and appeal to the state governor. He ordered a deferment. |
Cases like this have repeatedly sparked public debate about the admissibility of the death penalty and the technique of its execution. However, not all of the suicide bombers whose cases fueled the debate were as “lucky” as Broome. The vast majority of them died, if not on the first, then on the second attempt.
The average wait for criminals in the United States to die from conviction is 11 years. Moreover, if not for Texas, this average figure would be much higher. Sometimes those sentenced to death manage to grow old in prison before it is their turn to lie down on the couch for the last injection in their lives. For example, on June 29, 2002, the sentence was carried out against Steven Wayne Anderson, guilty of the brutal murder of an 81-year-old woman in 1980. On January 19, 2005, 61-year-old Donald Beardsley, convicted of murdering two women 24 years earlier, was executed at San Quentin Prison in California. But perhaps such a long wait has its upside: since 1976, 130 death sentences have been overturned due to the fact that the accused was found not guilty.
The “anniversary” - the thousandth executed convict since the restoration of capital punishment in the United States in 1976 was 57-year-old Kenneth Lee Boyd, convicted of murdering his wife and father-in-law in 1988. He was killed by lethal injection at 2:15 local time on December 2, 2005.
But his time in prison was not in vain. He devoted it to trying to convince young Americans to break away from gangster gangs and start a new life. Williams has been nominated for the Nobel Prize nine times - five for peace and four for his literary works. The story of his life formed the basis of a television film filmed in 2004. The role of “Tookie” was played by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. They say that after the screening of this film, Williams simply sent electronic messages to young gangsters who were convinced by the movie to get involved in crime. And US President George W. Bush awarded Tuki the Call to Service Award.
However, when deciding to pardon Williams, they apparently recalled that he laughed “at the sounds that Owens was making dying” 25 years ago. The number “13,” which Americans are so afraid of, became fatal for “Tuka.” His execution took place on December 13, 2005. She was watched by relatives of Williams' victims.
Reconstruction of the chamber cost 71 thousand dollars. The updated cell provided more space for the executioners to work, and new video and audio equipment was installed.
The death chamber was redone after Clayton Lockett, sentenced to death for murder and rape, died in agony in April - they could not kill him within 20 minutes, the execution was stopped, but Lockett died 40 minutes later from a heart attack.
As investigators established, in early September, before executing the death sentence, paramedics could not find a suitable vein on Lockett’s body for a long time to install a catheter. As a result, a suitable vein was found only in the groin, but after inserting the catheter, out of delicacy they covered it with a sheet and did not notice the rupture of the vein, which is why the drug could not enter the blood correctly.
On Thursday representatives correctional institutions held a press tour in Oklahoma new camera, where they showed a more spacious “chemical room” in which a person is given a lethal injection.
The "chemical room" was expanded to include a room for witnesses and a room in which the condemned were strapped to the gurney.
After all the changes, five media representatives will be allowed to attend the execution, and not twelve, as before.
The death chamber is equipped with surveillance cameras, video screens and a heartbeat monitor to monitor the execution, and an ultrasound machine to make it easier to find a vein.
Charles Fredrick Warner, who was originally scheduled to be executed on April 20, a few hours after Lockett, will soon enter this cell, his execution scheduled for November 13.
Warner was convicted in 1997 of the murder and rape of his girlfriend's 11-month-old daughter.
Both Lockett and Warner tried through the courts to get the state authorities to disclose the composition of the lethal injection.
The state Supreme Court refused to recognize convicts right know the names of the manufacturing companies, as well as the composition of the deadly “cocktail”.
In the USA in Lately The legality of using a mixture of three drugs for the purpose of execution is being actively discussed from the point of view of compliance with the Constitution's guarantees “against cruel and unusual punishment.”
Louisiana
Christopher Sepulvado
Ray Jasper 
Ray Jasper, 33, of San Antonio, was given a lethal injection at the Texas prison in Huntsville. The execution took place at 18:31 using pentobarbital.
In November 1998, African-American Ray Jasper and musicians Steve Russell and Douglas Williams decided to record songs in David Alejandro's recording studio. However, during the two-hour work, something went wrong, and the rappers decided to kill the sound engineer and steal studio equipment worth up to 30 thousand dollars.
In court, the rapper admitted that he cut the victim's throat with a kitchen knife. However, he insisted that the fatal wounds to the sound engineer were inflicted by his accomplices. Experts counted 25 stab wounds on the victim’s body.
Jasper was convicted in 2000. Immediately after this, Russell entered into a plea deal. In the end, he and Williams received life sentences.
Anthony Doyle. 
The execution of 29-year-old Doyle was carried out by means of a lethal injection of phenobarbital, which is scarce in the country. Prison staff confirmed his death on March 27, 2014 at 6:49 p.m. local time.
Anthony Doyle was sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of Korean woman Hong Cho. According to Fox News, the man ordered donuts and tacos, and when Cho arrived at his house, he beat her with a baseball bat, took all her money, and then dumped her body in his neighbor's dumpster. After this, Doyle and his friends partook of the food brought by his victim.
Tommy Sells 
Sells, 49, was sentenced to death back in 2000. He was called one of the most dangerous and cruel serial killers Texas. According to investigators, Sells had at least 22 victims, including children aged 11-13 years. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Texas in 1999, as well as for the attempted murder of another, 10-year-old girl.
Sells himself, in conversations with forensic psychiatrists, said that he killed at least 70 people, but investigators did not believe him, believing that the maniac was taking credit for “extra” victims.
Executed by lethal injection.
Ramiro Hernandez
Jose Villegas was executed by lethal injection. His death was confirmed on April 16, 2014 at 19:04 local time.
The convict's lawyers tried to prove to the court that their client was mentally retarded and asked to postpone the execution of his sentence. However, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rejected the criminal's defense appeal. This happened less than an hour before the scheduled execution.
Villegas was sentenced to death for the January 2002 murder. Then the man attacked the 24-year-old ex-girlfriend, her three-year-old son and 51-year-old mother and stabbed them multiple times.
Villegas became the 17th person executed in the United States since the beginning of this year and the seventh in Texas.
Tennessee
Nickolus Johnson
The sentence has been carried out.
Clayton Lockett, 38, was sentenced to death for murder and rape and was given lethal injection. However, death occurred only after 43 minutes. Moreover, after the doctors had already decided to save his life.
Tennessee
After this incident, staff at the prison where the execution took place announced their intention to raise questions about the effectiveness of new lethal drugs.
Robert James Campbell, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, May 13, in Texas, has filed an appeal in a New Orleans court to have his execution delayed. His lawyer, Maurie Levin, said the Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment could only be upheld if there was a guarantee that the execution would be humane.
The appeal comes after the botched April 29 execution in Oklahoma of Clayton Lockett, who died 43 minutes later. Edgardo Cubas ()
foreign citizen
Tennessee
William Montgomery
Raymond Tibbetts
On February 4, 2015 at 4:25 p.m. local time, Donald Newberry, one of the members of the notorious “Texas Seven,” a gang of criminals who escaped from prison and subsequently committed a number of serious crimes, including the murder of a police officer, was executed in Texas.
In 2000, Newbury, who was serving a 99-year sentence for armed robbery, attacked 14 prison staff with six other inmates and escaped from prison.
After this, the criminals committed a number of armed robberies. During one of these crimes in a sporting goods store, the fugitives shot and killed police officer Aubrey Hawkins. They then fled to Colorado, where they were apprehended. One of the gang members later committed suicide.
Six members of the Texas Seven were sentenced to death. Two of them had already been executed before Newbury.
Jeffrey Wogenstahl
The execution of Kelly Gissendeiner was scheduled for 19:00 on September 29, 2015. However, the lawyers of the convicted woman tried to postpone it until the last minute by filing petitions with the Supreme Court. All these attempts were in vain.
The death of 47-year-old mother of three Kelly Gissendeiner occurred at 0:21 on September 30, 2015. This is the first execution of a woman in Georgia in 70 years.
As follows from the criminal case, Gissendeiner persuaded her lover Greg Owen to kill her husband Douglas. The victim was stabbed to death in 1997 with two blows to the neck and back. Although the woman was not directly involved in the murder, the American Themis sentenced her to execution. At the same time, Kelly's lover, who entered into a pre-trial agreement, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He will be able to be released on parole in 2022.
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| Photo: Mike Graczyk/AP |
Executed by lethal injection.
Died 12 minutes after receiving a dose of phenobarbital
Garcia shot and robbed Christian missionary Hugo Solano from the Mexican city of Guadalajara in 1998 in Houston. A few weeks earlier, the man arrived with his family from Mexico so that his children could receive an education in the United States.
Cleveland Jackson
On February 2, 2016, the convict filed a final appeal, insisting that the sentence imposed on him did not correspond in gravity to the crime committed. At 11 p.m., Judge Clarence Thomas denied the motion.
In 1979, Jones was arrested for the murder of store manager Roger Tackett while attempting to commit a robbery.
The victim was shot to death at a convenience store in suburban Atlanta on June 17. Jones and his accomplice Van Roosevelt Solomon were captured at the scene by police. He was driving past the store after midnight and noticed the lights in the warehouse
store. The policeman's suspicion was also aroused by the fact that a car was parked nearby with the driver's door open.
Hearing four shots, the policeman ran into the room. There were two suspects there, and Tackett's body lay next to them.
After the arrest of Jones and Solomon, an examination was carried out. She established that before the arrest, both men either shot or were holding a weapon from which shots had previously been fired. A bag containing money stolen from the cash register was also seized from the scene. According to the results trial
both robbers were sentenced to death. The sentence against Solomon was carried out in February 1985, putting him in the electric chair.
In 1989, the court overturned Jones' death sentence due to procedural violations: it turned out that the jury took a Bible into the deliberation room before reaching a verdict; from this it could be concluded that they based their decision not on the law, but on the text of Holy Scripture. New trial
took place in 1997. But this time Jones was sentenced to death.
Adam Ward was given a lethal injection.
Ward had a falling out with clutter inspector Michael Walker in 2005. During the argument, the inspector threatened to call for help. In response, Ward went into the house and returned with a .45-caliber pistol, after which he shot and killed Walker.
Pablo Lucio Vasquez
Pablo Lucio Vazquez was found guilty of the brutal murder of minor David Cardenas.
The child's body was terribly mutilated. He was missing one arm and part of another limb, the skin on his back was torn off, and the skull at the back of his head was broken.
After his arrest, Pablo Vazquez admitted that he slit Cardenas' throat and beat him to death, and also stole the victim's ring and chain, writes " Russian newspaper"The suspect explained the massacre by auditory hallucinations.
According to the man, who received the nickname Vampire, he tried to behead the victim at the request of a "devil's voice."
At 6:34 p.m., he was given a lethal dose of pentobarbital at the Huntsville jail. A minute later, doctors pronounced the prisoner dead.
Authorities in the state of Georgia in the United States carried out the death sentence imposed on John Wayne Conner. 60-year-old John Conner was given a lethal injection. At 12:29 a.m. on July 15, 2016, medical personnel pronounced the prisoner dead.
He spent decades on death row. Conner was found guilty of brutally beating his friend, who died from his wounds.
As follows from the materials of the criminal case, on January 9, 1982, John Conner, along with his lover and several friends, threw a party drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. However, the joint fun ended in a quarrel.
When John's friend, JT White, went outside with him to freshen up, they had a frank conversation. White admitted that he wanted to have sex with John's girlfriend, who remained in the house. In a fit of jealousy, 25-year-old Conner began beating his opponent with a bottle and a stick. Leaving his beaten friend to die in a ditch, the man returned to the house and convinced his girlfriend to leave the city for a while.
Conner later returned to the crime scene to verify the victim's death.
Jack Jones
Marcel Williams
convicted of rape and murder.
Kenneth Williams
convicted of murder after escaping from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for a 1998 murder.
Florida
Mark Asay, 53, became the first white person executed in Florida for the murder of a black person since the state reintroduced executions as capital punishment in 1976.
Asay was sentenced to capital punishment for the 1987 murder of African-American Robert Lee Booker under circumstances indicating a racist nature of the crime. He also shot and killed another man, 26-year-old Robert McDowell.
Alabama Walter Moody
was convicted in 1989 of the murder of a district judge and human rights activist. The investigation was able to prove that he sent them bombs by mail. The man denied his guilt to the end.
Walter Moody is the oldest criminal to be executed; he was 83 years old at the time of his execution. John William King, 41
In June 1998, black American James Byrd Jr. (49) was walking home from a friend's birthday party when three white men - John William King, Sean Allen Berry and Lawrence Russell Brewer - kidnapped him in Jasper, Texas, USA.
Being racists and hating blacks, they grabbed Byrd, took him to a deserted road, where they shackled him by the ankles and tied him to the back of a pickup truck. Then they drove a pickup truck for almost three miles, dragging and methodically dismembering Byrd. They left Byrd's body parts in front of a local black cemetery, and his torso was discovered a mile and a half away on the side of the road.
All three were found guilty in Byrd's death. Brewer was executed in 2011, and Berry is eligible for parole in 2038. John William King and his lawyers filed a series of appeals against his death sentence, but all were rejected. The lethal injection was given to him at 19:00, King died 12 minutes later.
His execution was watched by one of the victims, Michelle Simms, who was only 17 years old at the time of the attack. The criminal kidnapped her from the church yard and brought her to his home, but the girl managed to arouse pity in him and convince him to let her go.
Later, with her help, the police managed to track down and arrest the maniac. Now she works in the same police department whose employees detained Long.
USA is the only one western country, where the practice of using the death penalty as capital punishment has been preserved. The death penalty in the United States is applied on the basis of acts adopted in most states and federal legislation. This penalty is governed by the Eighth Amendment and is imposed on convicted adult offenders found sane to commit aggravated murder.
History of application
The fact that execution is still used in court sentences is due to historical and cultural foundations and serves as a shining example of the severity of America's laws. In fairness, it is worth noting that this punishment is applied only in cases where crimes committed are really harsh, and rash sentences are simply excluded.
As federal statistics have shown, in the state's 500-year history there have been no more than 20 thousand people sentenced to death, the vast majority of whom are incorrigible criminals.
Moreover, the percentage of executed persons in relation to sentenced persons is quite small. For example, in 2010, there were just over 3,100 criminals on death row, while only 39 death row inmates across the country were executed. The largest number of executions is traditionally carried out in Texas.
The origins of the death penalty go back to the times of settlers and Indians and since then, changing in methods of execution, they have found justification both in the eyes of the public and at the legislative level. This punishment was a tool of intimidation for numerous gangs operating on the West Coast during the Great Depression.
After the forces of the mafia structures noticeably weakened, punishment began to lose its relevance, and in 1972, in several cases considered in the Supreme Court, the death penalty was replaced by more lenient sentences. Due to case law in the United States, no execution was ordered for the next five years. Only in 1976 were death sentences resumed, although the procedure for issuing such a verdict became noticeably more complicated. The return to the death penalty stems from the case of robber and murderer Gilmore, who was executed in 1977 after the criminal himself refused to take advantage of chances for clemency.
The death penalty remains relevant, largely due to categorical public opinion. When, during the 1998 presidential election, Bush and Dukakis discussed the execution of criminals, the latter spoke negatively on the issue of the death penalty, while the Bush campaign campaign used its cautious attitude towards executing an opponent against him. After Dukakis's defeat in each subsequent presidential election, the need for a ban was no longer voiced to voters.
Geography of application
The death penalty is used as a punishment in 32 US states. The remaining 18 states have abandoned executions:
- Iowa;
- Alaska;
- New Jersey;
- Wisconsin;
- Massachusetts;
- Minnesota;
- Hawaii;
- NY;
- West Virginia;
- Connecticut;
- Vermont;
- New Mexico;
- Maryland;
- North Dakota;
- Illinois;
- Rhode Island;
- Michigan.
The deprivation of life of especially dangerous criminals is most often practiced in the southern United States. The leading states are Texas and Virginia. Statistics show that the number of executions in the state of Texas totals 508 people over 25 years. By comparison, during the same period, Virginia executed 110 people and Oklahoma executed 109.
Types of executions
Throughout the history of the state in the United States, the most various ways killing, with each state choosing acceptable options.
Electric chair
Until recently, the electric chair was a common method of execution, and some states still retain the right to use it (Alabama, Florida, Virginia, etc.).
Refusal of this type of execution is associated with particular pain and suffering for the condemned, which is contrary to the norms of the law and regulations in force in American states.
Gas chamber
Although five states still have the option of using the gas chamber, this method has not been used much since 1999.
To apply this type of killing in Arizona, California, Missouri, Wyoming or Maryland, they proceed from the personal desires of the convicted person and the statute of limitations of his acts.
Execution
Only two states still retain the possibility of using execution as a punishment for serious crimes - Oklahoma and Idaho. Utah canceled this method in 2004, but death by shooting continued to be practiced until 2010. This situation arose due to the fact that death row inmates themselves chose this instrument of execution.
Execution of a condemned person is an alternative method of carrying out a sentence, permissible due to the problem of obtaining the drug administered to the condemned person during execution.
Despite the preservation of the right to use the firing squad, it has hardly been used over the past 2 decades.
Hanging
Death by hanging was the first method of death used in the United States, beginning in 1630. Currently, the measure is almost never used, but the right to execute a sentence by hanging has been preserved in several states.
Injection method Most convicted criminals executed for last years
, choose the death penalty by lethal injection. This method is considered more humane, and its use is consistent with the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the use of cruel unusual punishment.
Process description
The execution of the sentence is most often delayed for a fairly long period. Death row inmates wait in their cells for years for their execution to be scheduled. Death row inmates in Texas spend the least amount of time on death row, where sentences are executed more quickly. The average wait for execution of a sentence is 11 years, which often leads to the fact that the sentenced person manages to die a natural death in his cell.
When the day of execution arrives, the condemned man is offered his last meal. The menu can be chosen at the request of the criminal himself. After eating, the condemned person is led to the cell where the execution will take place. In it, the criminal is given a lethal injection, which consists of an anesthetic, a paralytic and a poison that causes cardiac arrest. In some cases, the lethal injection consists of a triple dose of anesthetic, causing the prisoner to die from an overdose.
What acts carry the death penalty
In order to receive capital punishment, it is necessary to be especially convicted serious crimes.
As a rule, death row includes persons convicted of the following crimes:
- murder of 2 or more people (at the discretion of the state);
- torture of people followed by their murder;
- deprivation of life of a child, a police officer;
- rape followed by murder;
- murder in prison.
Video about the death penalty in the USA
Recently, there has been a trend away from the death penalty in cases of aggravated murder. There are practically no states left where execution is practiced for a crime that does not involve the deprivation of the life of citizens. The only exception is an act committed against the interests of the state. Such crimes are considered “betrayal of the Motherland, terrorism, espionage, organization of drug networks.”
The history of the death penalty in the United States dates back to the colonial period. It is generally accepted that the practice of this type of punishment was brought to the New World by colonists from Europe.
Already in 1612, Governor Thomas Dale introduced a set of laws in Virginia that provided for the death penalty even for minor crimes (stealing grapes, killing chickens and trading with Indians).
In 1630, the death penalty was carried out for the first time in Massachusetts. In 1665, New York passed a series of laws called The Duke's Laws, which provided for the death penalty for beating parents, as well as for failure to accept the “true God.”
Judging by archival data, the most popular execution at the turn of the 18th century was hanging. Such executions took place from minimal costs. The court sentenced the criminal to death, and within a few days he was hanged on the nearest tree.
All that was required was a ladder, a rope and a couple of experienced executioners who received a small fee. Hanging scaffolds were only built in cases where a trial gained national fame.
Around 1720, executions in the United States became a form of mass entertainment. The executioners realized that this could bring them good money, since people love to look at forbidden and shocking things.
“As the man hung in the noose, the spectators groaned and turned their heads away, closed their eyes and cried,” wrote historian Caesar Cowley. “However, no one missed the opportunity to attend the execution in person. Curiosity and a rush of adrenaline moved the crowd.”
If in the 17th century executions were carried out mainly with the consent of the church, then in the 18th century planters were the main executioners. Offending slaves were hanged, burned, or shackled in iron cages suspended from trees.
The archives still contain entries like: "Francis Bosch. Black. Slave. Crime: slave rebellion and horse theft. Punishment: hanging in chains. Place: New York. Date: 1741."
In 1794, Pennsylvania abolished the death penalty as a form of punishment for all crimes except first-degree murder.
At the beginning of the 19th century. significant changes are taking place in the punishment system: in some states a penitentiary system has been built, and the list of crimes regarded as serious and especially serious has been reduced; The death penalty is being abolished in a number of states.
The first state was Michigan, which abolished the death penalty for all crimes except treason in 1846. Then the abolition of the death penalty occurs in the states of Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
However, in most states the death penalty took place. Moreover, it is significant that the list of crimes classified as serious was expanded, especially for crimes committed by slaves.
In addition, in the second half of the 19th century. (especially during Civil War) besides official ways The so-called Lynch Court (named after Virginia landowner Charles Lynch, who executed lawbreakers without trial) is becoming widespread.
In the 19th century state instruction required the use of a special rope and the construction of a scaffold to special standards. Amateurs were not allowed to carry out executions. Specially trained executioners had to make instant decisions in difficult situations when, for example, the criminal was dangling in a noose, but was still breathing.
Until the second half of the 19th century For centuries, Americans have been completely indifferent to the death penalty. Less than 3% of the population believed that it should be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment. These views were mainly held by relatives of criminals awaiting hanging.
1881 changed everything. A group of businessmen and colleagues of the famous light bulb maker Thomas Edison invented the electric chair and launched a national campaign to dehumanize hanging. They talked about how long criminals suffer in the noose and how even murderers need to be guaranteed an easy death.
In just eight years, the consciousness of the population was completely changed. People began to perceive the electric chair as one of the fastest and easiest ways to die. He became a real symbol of deliverance from suffering.
The first person to be executed in the electric chair was New York murderer William Kemmner (August 1890). The whole country watched his horrific death. He was “roasted” for several minutes, and all this time the criminal remained alive. His eyes were bleeding, the room was filled with the smell of burnt meat, but the press missed all these details.
The inventors of the death weapon, with the help of big money and connections in the highest circles of power, officially approved the electric chair as “the most humane method of punishment in the entire history of the United States.”
At the beginning of the 20th century. a number of transformations are taking place, including in the field of justice and as a result from 1907 to 1917. 6 states have completely abolished the death penalty and 3 states have limited its application to two types of crimes: treason and murder in the first degree (murder official), however, five of the six states subsequently reinstated the death penalty in their territory.
From the beginning of the 17th century. The number of death sentences carried out steadily increases and reaches its peak at the beginning of the 20th century. The main reasons for such a sharp increase in the number of executions can be identified:
Firstly, economic and political transformations in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. In this regard, in America there is a growing fear of the possibility of a similar phenomenon on the territory of their state. As a result, a number of states that had previously abandoned or limited the death penalty a certain type crimes returns to her practice.
Secondly, the Great Depression of the 1930s. As American historians write, during this period of time the largest number of death sentences was carried out in the entire history of its existence in the United States.
14-year-old George Stinney was executed in 1944 and found not guilty 70 years later.
At the beginning of the 20th century, even authoritative scientists declared “a dead end in the evolution of methods of execution.” At that time, no one knew that gas chambers would appear in the 1920s. They are still the most unexplored method of murder.
The American government classified many documents, but experienced chemists even then called gas chambers “the worst method of murder in human history.”
Psychologists believed that the criminal experienced the greatest suffering when the doors of a narrow and cramped cell were closed. The feeling of claustrophobia and hopelessness is much worse than directly swallowing gas. Sometimes more than three hours passed between the process of locking and releasing the gas.
The invention of the lethal injection and the machine for its intravenous administration became the most expensive in the history of executions. Private companies that entered into contracts with the state for $800 million developed new technology murders for almost 20 years.
Ultimately, the injection turned out to be much less effective than a lethal dose of ordinary morphine or heroin. The composition of this explosive mixture has been improved since 1982 to this day.
Thus, for 315 years, the death penalty “industry” in the United States could care less about the humanity and painless death of the prisoner. Trillions of dollars were earned from executions (taking into account inflation), tens of thousands of people died in agony and suffering.
Interestingly, the US Supreme Court banned executions in 1972, but the ban only lasted four years. It was taken down by lobbyists interested in the astronomical profits from promoting lethal injection.
Popular approval for lifting the ban was obtained thanks to the promotion of several high-profile criminal cases and newspaper headlines, like “This man killed 15 children, destroying happy families. Doesn’t he deserve to die? Why does our government forgive such scoundrels?”
Over the past ten years, the number of death sentences carried out in the United States has increased, while the number of murders committed has decreased. However, this does not mean that the use of capital punishment has reduced the crime rate in the country - fewer murders began to be committed in those states where the death penalty was abolished or there was a moratorium on its use.
According to public organization National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Similar trends can be seen throughout the world: countries where the death penalty is prohibited have half as many murders as countries where the death penalty is used. As of 2000, 105 countries around the world had either abolished the use of the death penalty or refrained from carrying out death sentences.
A number of federal judges in the United States have ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional - the first time such a precedent-setting decision was made was in 1994. One of the main arguments that these judges took into account was the risk of killing an innocent person.
The worse the crime situation in the country, the poorer and more corrupt the employees law enforcement and organs judiciary, the more likely it is that the court will make an error in sentencing. These are the conclusions reached by a group of scientists from Columbia University who published the results of their study of the use of the death penalty in the world. According to the study, 71% of death sentences handed down in ten countries between 1973 and 1995 were later challenged. In 95% of cases, at additional court hearings, those sentenced to death were acquitted or received more mild punishment.
However, according to this study, courts are inherently biased towards certain groups of people. For example, death sentences in North America and Europe are more likely to be imposed in regions where the percentage of the population is black. In countries where judges are elected rather than appointed, they are more susceptible to influence public opinion, the impact of media publications, etc. Moreover, criminals who commit crimes for which they are sentenced to death have different chances of being executed. For example, a robber who commits murder has more chances to save life than a criminal who killed several people or did it in a particularly cruel way.
Opponents of the death penalty also use financial statistics: The cost of a trial that ends with the execution of a criminal ranges from $1 to $3 million. For comparison, if the court sentences a criminal to imprisonment, the cost of the process does not exceed $500 thousand.
Proponents of the death penalty use the following arguments: the death penalty is used extremely rarely - according to statistics, from 1967 to 2001, one out of every 1,600 convicted murderers was executed - that is, 0.06%. Only 0.2% of criminals who were sentenced to death were executed. On average, an American criminal spends 11 years and two months in prison awaiting execution. This is quite a sufficient period of time to be repeatedly convinced of his guilt or innocence. As shown by a study conducted Faculty of Law Stanford University, over the past hundred years in the United States, 23 people were executed without sufficient grounds and can be considered innocent victims of cruel justice. However, 100% evidence of complete innocence exists only for 11 people - this is 0.14% of the total number of those executed during this time (approximately 7.4 thousand).
Public opinion polls conducted in the United States show that the majority of Americans believe that criminals who have committed particularly cruel and cynical crimes - for example, those guilty of murder or rape of a child - deserve the death penalty.
Chronicle of murders "in law"
In 2001, 58 people were executed in the United States.Since 1976, the United States has executed 44 people who suffered mental disorders.
In 2002 (as of September 11), Texas executed 24 people and 23 in all other states. Over the past two years, Texas has carried out three death sentences against people deemed mentally ill. The current head of the country, George W. Bush, previously served as governor of Texas and was considered an ardent supporter of the death penalty.
Five people are scheduled to be executed in the United States in October 2002. Two sentences have already been carried out, one of them in Texas.
In the state of New York (which includes the city of New York), 1,130 people were executed between 1608 and 2002. There have been no executions in New York since 1991. However, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, state legislators unanimously decided that terrorists would be subject to the death penalty. Moreover, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appealed to US President George W. Bush with a request to allow him to take part in the execution of Bin Laden, if, of course, he is arrested and sentenced to this punishment.
Since 1990, only six countries have used the death penalty against minors: Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen and the United States. The United States has executed more minors than all other countries - more than 160 people.
The electric chair was invented as a competitive weapon
Until 1915, the main means of carrying out death sentences in the United States was the gallows. In approximately 10% of cases, the convicts were shot. From 1915 to 1980, the most commonly used chair was the electric chair.It is curious that the creator of the electric chair did not set out to create the most humane way of depriving a person of life - these were the motives that guided the famous French doctor Guillotin, who invented a decapitation machine in 1792.
The electric chair came about as a result of an anecdote. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the famous inventor and businessman (creator of the General Electric company) Thomas Edison tried to interest consumers in a fully electrified work chair - with a built-in lamp, electric motor, heating, a device for automatically changing the backrest tilt, etc. One of Edison's main competitors, inventor and businessman George Westinghouse, resorted to an unusual method of competition. He proposed using the electric chair to execute criminals, hoping to scare off potential buyers of Edison's miracle chairs.
Westinghouse's calculations paid off. As a result, in English language For a time, the expression appeared: “the criminal was Westinghoused” (they speak of someone executed by guillotine as “guillotined”). Interestingly, Westinghouse later secretly hired a lawyer to save the life of a criminal sentenced to death by electric chair for the first time in world history. Westinghouse lost.
Nowadays the electric chair is used quite rarely. Basically, in the United States, prisoners sentenced to death are killed by injecting them with poison. For example, in 2000, 594 people were executed this way. This procedure is legally approved by 36 states of the country, federal government and the US military. 149 people ended their lives in the electric chair. This method of execution is accepted in 10 states. 11 people suffocated in the gas chamber. This method is used by 5 states. 3 people were hanged (a procedure adopted in three states) and two were shot (it is also customary in three states to shoot criminals).
Murder by electricity. Extremely painful death, lasting 10 minutes.
Allen Lee Davis. Florida (1996):
DEATH BY ELECTRIC SHOCK
This preferred method of killing in the United States was introduced in 1890.
The prisoner is completely shaved and tied to a chair. Convicts experience such severe convulsions that their joints dislocate. A metal cup with a saliva-absorbing sponge is attached to the skull. Electrodes are attached to the legs and head. When the performer turns on the lever, a shock of 2000, 3000 volts permeates the victim's body and lasts 30 seconds. After this, bowel movements often occur and Bladder, tissue rupture, the brain begins to boil, the skin around the electrodes burns and turns black.
Death occurs either from a brain burn or from suffocation.
How painful is such a death? Studies show that the victim is likely to remain conscious for several minutes before breathing stops, but cannot move. Doctors assume that a person who has received an electric shock is paralyzed and suffocating, but retains consciousness and fullness of feelings. He feels like he's burning alive. And, probably, this is the same state as during a medieval execution, when the victim was dipped into boiling oil.
Types of death penalty in the USA
In the United States, there are currently several types of death penalty, among which the leading position is occupied by lethal injection and the notorious electric chair. In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to execute prisoners by injection. The state authorities proceeded from the fact that the electric chair was “too expensive to operate.”
The electric chair was invented in 1886 almost simultaneously by Westinghouse and Edison and was proposed as the most humane method of execution. The composition of the lethal injection was developed by physician Stanley Deutsch. It consists of three chemical components. The first substance, sodium pentothal, puts the condemned person into deep sleep. Pavulon (pancuronium bromide) - paralyzes muscles. Finally, potassium chloride stops the heart muscle.
After examination at the University of Texas, this method was approved. It soon became widespread. Opponents of the death penalty gave it the name "Texas cocktail."
Today, of the 38 states that have reintroduced the death penalty since 1976, only Nebraska does not resort to injections, preferring the electric chair. Ten states offer prisoners the choice between injection and other methods, such as hanging or shooting.
How to give a lethal injection
Lethal injection is the most modern and one of the most popular methods of death penalty. Execution by injection occurs as follows.About half an hour before execution, the death row inmate is searched and changed into cotton pants, a shirt, and slippers. Then he is taken to the room where the execution will take place, placed on a special chair and secured with belts. Representatives of the authorities and the media, relatives of the death row inmate and his victims, as well as those personally invited by the condemned person can observe the execution from special rooms separated from the cell by glass or one-way mirrors.
The criminal, secured in a chair with straps, has two tubes inserted into his veins. Through them, saline solution begins to flow into the suicide bomber’s body. Despite having a special machine for injecting deadly poisons, most states prefer to use people - to be on the safe side. Neither the criminal nor the witnesses see them: the executioners are fenced off with a curtain or put a cap on their head, notes the BBC.
At this moment, the curtains open, covering the windows of the rooms with witnesses. The prisoner's head remains unsecured so that he can look at those present (in cells where there is glass, not one-way mirrors).
First, sodium thiopental is pumped into the body of the suicide bomber, which is used during operations for anesthesia. In hospitals, it is administered in an amount of 100 to 150 milligrams, and the condemned person receives an increased dose - up to 5 grams, which puts him into deep sleep. Then pancuronium bromide passes through the tubes, which paralyzes the diaphragm and lungs. This poison begins to act within 1-3 minutes. The third poison - potassium chloride - stops the heart.
It takes from 5 to 18 minutes to kill a condemned person after the command to carry out the sentence is given. His body is placed in a special bag and sent to a specialist who performs an autopsy. After this, the body is either handed over to the relatives of the executed person or interred at the expense of the state.
In some US states they still hang people
They are gassing here. Death occurs within 8 to 10 minutes. This method was “inspired” by the Americans from the First World War, when various toxic substances were actively used to destroy the enemy. Introduced in the 20s. The prisoner is tied to a chair in a special room where outside air does not penetrate. A special stethoscope is attached to the body and can be heard from outside the chamber. Cyanide is released into the air, after which the person dies from suffocation, because. Cyanide prevents the spread of oxygen from the blood to the cells. Death is accompanied by convulsions.
gas chambers in Colorado, Cañon City, photos taken between 1932 and 1954 by a prison guard:
In the USA, criminals are killed like cattle
Ilya GRASHCHENKOV, April 15, 2005America, revered as the most democratic state in the world, still practices such a seemingly inhumane thing as the death penalty. Even President George W. Bush said in a recent speech that he still supports the practice as capital punishment. “As governor and president, I have been and remain a supporter of the death penalty,” said the head of the States, speaking in Washington at the annual conference of the Association of Daily Newspaper Editors of America. "I believe that the death penalty, if used correctly, will help save the lives of others," Bush said.
Meanwhile, New York has completely abandoned such a punishment. In this Wednesday Legislative Assembly states, including Speaker Sheldon Silver, voted against the death penalty. The last time the law on execution was approved was in 1995, but in 2004 the Supreme Court decided that this procedure was unconstitutional.
Over the past year, debate about the need for this penalty has been going on not only between Republicans and Democrats, but also within the parties themselves. As a result, the victory remained with the humanists and the executions were abolished, although in 2006 the Republicans will again be able to revive the law.
Is the death penalty a deterrent to crime? Does it violate human rights? Is it compatible with the modern period of development, and can the state prove the need for such a measure in order to maintain law and order? The whole world is led by Catholic Church and human rights organizations condemn the United States for such a terrible measure of responsibility; for example, in Europe, on July 1, 2003, a complete ban on the death penalty was approved.
Then the authorities of some states were forced to switch to at least more humane methods of killing than the traditional electric chair and gas chambers.
The "Texas cocktail" is now the most popular type of execution in many regions of America. Back in 1977, the state of Oklahoma was the first to switch to the practice of killing convicts by injection, then the authorities believed that the electric chair was “too expensive to operate.” The composition of the lethal injection was developed by the doctor Stanley Deutsch; it consists of three chemical components: the first substance puts the condemned into deep sleep, the second paralyzes the muscles, and the third, potassium chloride, stops the work of the heart muscle. After an examination at the University of Texas, this method was approved by doctors.
It would seem that execution through injection of a poisonous “cocktail” is the most humane method that one can think of. This, however, was questioned by Florida doctors, who reported that because of the ban on executions by professional doctors, many death row inmates die in terrible agony from suffocation.
The problem is that instead of professionals monitoring the dosage of the drug bailiff and in case of the wrong dose, a suicide bomber with complete paralysis is doomed to severe suffering.
Doctors at the University of Miami conducted a study of 49 corpses of executed criminals in different states and found that in 43 cases the dose of anesthesia was not enough even to perform a surgical operation, and in 21 cases it was not enough for the person to lose consciousness, that is, in these circumstances, prisoners died a death more painful than hanging, and more cruel than the norms adopted in slaughterhouses.