Death Penalty

Several States Abolish Capital Punishment

Jun 10, 1957

The movement against capital punishment revived again between 1955 and 1972. England and Canada completed exhaustive studies which were largely critical of the death penalty.

US Supreme Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Death Penalty

Jul 2, 1976

The Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of capital punishment for aggravated murder. The question presented to the Court in this case was whether the imposition of capital punishment under Georgia's revised death penalty statute was prohibited under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment to federal Constitution.

US Supreme Court Rules That Capital Punishment Is Excessive for a Defendant Who Played a Minor Role in a Felony Murder

Jul 2, 1982

The United States Supreme Court overturns the death sentence of a man who was convicted of the robbery and murder of an elderly couple in Florida

Supreme Court rules new evidence of innocence doesn't entitle Prisoners to be freed unless also a constitutional violation

Jan 25, 1993

a death-row inmate is no ordinarily entitled to relief were a claim of innocence is based on newly discovered evidence, unless the claim also includes an independent constitutional violation.

Ability of Judges to Reverse Sentences of death row inmates is restricted

Apr 24, 1996

Over the past decade, death penalty proponents have made successful efforts at both the state and federal level to streamline the capital appeals process and expedite executions