Currently, capital punishment, also known as the death or execution penalty, is authorized in 27 states of the American Union. Furthermore, this is also permitted by the federal government and the US military.
The last execution of this 2021 took place in Oklahoma on October 28 after John Marion Grant was executed at age 60 by lethal injection. As of today, November 19th 9 executions were carried out in the US during 2021. In 2020, 17 were built.
Which states still have enforcement in the US?
The states that still allow capital punishment are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky; Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
It is worth mentioning that Nebraska abolished the death penalty in 2015 but was reinstated by the state vote in 2016.
Methods of execution
Lethal injection is currently the main method of execution. Texas was the first state to use the method in 1982. On the other hand, in 2021, South Carolina became the first state to stop using lethal injection as a primary method of execution. It is the only state where electrocution is primary and shooting and lethal injection are secondary methods.
Other secondary execution methods include electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, nitrogen hypoxia and firing squad.
Which states don’t have the death penalty in the US?
In addition to the District of Columbia, these are the states and their respective years in which they abolished the death penalty: Alaska (1957), Colorado (2020), Connecticut (2012), Delaware (2016), Hawaii (1957), Illinois (2011), Iowa (1965), Maine (1887), Maryland (2013), Massachusetts (1984) , Michigan (1847), Minnesota (1911), New Hampshire (2019), New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), New York (2007), North Dakota (1973), Rhode Island (1984), Vermont (1972 )), Virginia (2021), Washington (2018), West Virginia (1965) and Wisconsin (1853).
It is worth mentioning that although some states abolished the death penalty, the repeal was not retroactive, so the prisoners continued with that sentence. For other states, the death penalty was converted to life imprisonment.
