Published February 17th, 2020
The debate over capital punishment is still going on for years. Taking someone’s life raises moral, spiritual, economic, and political concerns.
While some states rewrote their death penalty statutes that lead to an increase in the number of executions, it now began to decline, as shown in the recent death penalty statistics.
So, how are the executions performed? Let’s take a look at how capital punishment was preformed back then and how it evolved over the years.
METHODS OF EXECUTION
- Hanging / Firing by Squad – is the method of execution for the first 150 years of the country’s existence until the invention of the electric chair.
- Electrocution – became the standard method of execution back in 1880 until 1982. Convicts were electrocuted in an electric chair until lethal injection came into light.
- Lethal Injection – Although some other states still use electrocution and hanging, lethal injection is still the most preferred method of execution as of today.
RECENT DEATH PENALTY STATISTICS
As of May 31 of 2019, the death penalty is legal in 29 states in the US. When the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, a total of 1499 convicts have been executed since 1976, while 288 people were granted clemency.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of imposed death sentences in 2018 was 42. 25 of it was already executed.
As of April 1, 2019, there are 2,673 inmates on death row in the United States, and 54 of them are women. Sixteen women have been executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty, as shown in the report from the NAACP Criminal Justice Project.
REDUCE YOUR JAIL CALL COSTS BY 90%
GlobalTel’s inmate calling service lowers jail call rates by 90% for jail calls to US facilities. Sign up for our service to eliminate the long distance jail call fees for $45.99 for 90 days. Make US/domestic and international jail calls at the local rate and stay connected to your incarcerated loved ones for less. Learn more about how to sign up for calls from inmates on our website.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Franchette Agatha Jardin believes that everyone has the capacity to help those who are in need. She writes blogs about issues and news surrounding those in prison in the hopes of restoring a little extra faith in humanity.