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2016 Cap. Punishment 1 (2016)

handle is hein.death/cpshm2016 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau ofJustice Statistics Statistical Brief NCJ 251430 Capital Punishment, 2016 Elizabeth Davis and Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statisticians This report includes data on persons under sentence of death, persons executed, and the status of the death penalty at the state and federal level. Data on prisoners under sentence of death were obtained from the department of corrections in each jurisdiction that authorized the death penalty on December 31, 2016. Information on the status of death penalty statutes was obtained from the office of the Attorney General in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government. At year-end 2016, 34 states and the federal government authorized the death penalty. Two of these states (New York and Wyoming) did not have any prisoners under sentence of death at year-end. Each jurisdiction determines the offenses for which the death penalty can be imposed (appendix tables 1 and 2). Once a person has been convicted of a capital offense, a separate sentencing hearing is held. During the sentencing hearing, a jury will consider aggravating and mitigating factors as defined by state law. Before a person can be sentenced to death, a jury must find that at least one aggravating factor is present and that mitigating factors don't outweigh the aggravating factor(s). Methods of execution are defined by statute and vary by jurisdiction. In 2016, all 34 states with a death penalty statute authorized lethal injection as a method of execution (appendix table 3). In addition to lethal injection, 15 states authorized an alternative method of execution: electrocution (8 states), lethal gas (3), hanging (3), firing squad (2), and nitrogen hypoxia (1). In states that authorized multiple methods of execution, the condemned prisoner usually selected the method. Five states (Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Utah) stipulated which method must be used depending on the date of either the offense or sentencing. New Hampshire authorized hanging only if lethal injection could not be given. Four states authorized alternative methods if lethal injection is ruled to be unconstitutional: Delaware authorized hanging; Oklahoma authorized electrocution, firing squad, or nitrogen hypoxia; Utah authorized firing squad; and Wyoming authorized lethal gas. MAP 1 States with and without death penalty statutes, year-end 2016 E No statute authorizing the death penalty on December 31, 2016 I Had a statute authorizing the death penalty on December 31, 2016 1Had a statute authorizing the death penalty on December 31, 2016, and carried out an execution in 2016 Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS-8), 2016. BJS RIRTMENINAINANFAMM April 2018

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