For Students
Lethal-injection room
Should the death penalty be legal?
capital punishment
law
Also known as: death penalty, execution
- Also called:
- death penalty
- Key People:
- Caryl Chessman
News •
Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executions
• Dec. 23, 2024, 6:11 PM ET (AP)
Man accused in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing faces federal charge that's eligible for death penalty
• Dec. 19, 2024, 9:57 PM ET (AP)
Oklahoma man dies by lethal injection in the nation’s final execution of 2024
• Dec. 19, 2024, 5:58 PM ET (AP)
US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady
• Dec. 19, 2024, 12:19 PM ET (AP)
Indiana law shrouds executions in secrecy, prompting new pushes for public oversight
• Dec. 18, 2024, 4:46 AM ET (AP)
capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law. The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution (even when it is upheld on appeal), because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment. Capital punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely employed in ancient Greece under the laws of Draco (fl. 7th century bce), though Plato argued that ...(100 of 2803 words)