Death Penalty
AMENDMENT 8
Prohibits excessive bail and fines
Prohibits cruel and unusual
punishment
AMENDMENT 8:
Furman v. GA (1972)
This case led to a 4-year moratorium
(delay/suspension) on death penalty sentences
Capital punishment varied for each state
Led to two phases:
1) Jury decides if defendant is guilty of
murder
2) Jury hears new evidence to determine if the
death penalty is warranted
AMENDMENT 8:
Gregg v. GA (1976)
The Supreme Court held that the
death penalty was not considered
cruel and unusual punishment
AMENDMENT 8:
Thompson v. OK (1988)
The 8th Amendment forbids
executing people for crimes they
committed when they were under
16
Date
Name
Age at
Age at
execution offense
Gender
State
Method
Lethal injection
1
01985-09-11September 11 Rumbaugh, Charles Francis
28
17
Male
Texas
2
01986-01-10January 10
Roach, James Terry
25
17
Male
South Carolina Electrocution
3
01986-05-15May 15, 1986 Pinkerton, Jay Kelly
24
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
4
01990-05-18May 18, 1990 Prejean, Dalton
30
17
Male
Louisiana
Electrocution
5
01992-02-11February 11
Garrett, Johnny Frank
28
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
6
01993-07-01July 1, 1993
Harris, Curtis Paul
31
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
7
01993-07-28July 28, 1993 Lasley, Frederick
29
17
Male
Missouri
Lethal injection
8
01993-08-24August 24,
Cantu, Ruben Montoya
26
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
9
01993-12-07December 7
Burger, Christopher
33
17
Male
Georgia
Electrocution
10 01998-04-24April 24, 1998 Cannon, Joseph John
38
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
11 01998-05-18May 18, 1998 Carter, Robert Anthony
34
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
12 01998-10-14October 14,
Wright, Dwayne Allen
24
17
Male
Virginia
Lethal injection
13 01999-02-04February 4,
Sellers, Sean Richard
29
16
Male
Oklahoma
Lethal injection
14 02000-01-10January 10
Thomas, Douglas Christopher 26
17
Male
Virginia
Lethal injection
15 02000-01-13January 13
Roach, Steve Edward
23
17
Male
Virginia
Lethal injection
16 02000-01-25January 25
McGinnis, Glen Charles
27
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
17 02000-06-22June 22, 2000 Graham, Gary Lee
36
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
18 02001-10-22October 22
33
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
19 02002-05-28May 28, 2002 Beazley, Napoleon
25
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
20 02002-08-08August 8
Jones, T. J.T. J. Jones
25
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
21 02002-08-28August 28
Patterson, Toronto Markkey
24
17
Male
Texas
Lethal injection
22 02003-04-03April 3, 2003
Hain, Scott Allen
32
17
Male
Oklahoma
Lethal injection
Mitchell, Gerald Lee
AMENDMENT 8:
Roper v. Simmons (2005)
Overruled the Thompson case
and held that crimes committed
before 18 could not be used for the
death penalty
Prior to this decision, 22
juveniles had been executed since
1976
California Death Row
As of 2015, there are 745 offenders (including 19
women) on California's death row.
Of those, 126 involved torture before murder, 173
killed children, and 44 murdered police officers.
Because California's death penalty was enacted
through the voter-initiative process, the only way to
replace it is through a voter-approved ballot measure.
 An attempt to remove the death penalty in 2012,
Proposition 34, was defeated with 53% of the vote
against it.
California Death Row: Number of Executions Since 1976
Executed Person
Date of Execution Victim (s)
1
Robert Alton Harris
April 21, 1992
John Mayeski and Michael Baker
2
David Edwin Mason
August 24, 1993
Joan Picard, Arthur Jennings, Boyd Johnson, Antionette Brown, and
Dorothy Land
Under Governor
3
William George Bonin
February 23, 1996
Marcus Grabs, Donald Hyden, David Murillo, Dennis Frank Fox, Charles
Wilson
Miranda, James McCabe, Ronald Gatlin, Harry Todd Turner, Russell
Rugh, Glenn Barker, Steven Wood, Darin Lee Kendrick, Lawrence Sharp,
and Steven Jay Wells
4
Keith Daniel Williams
May 31, 1996
Lourdes Meza, Miguel Vargas and Salvador Vargas
5
Thomas Martin Thompson July 14, 1998
Ginger Fleischli
6
Jaturun Siripongs
February 9, 1999
Packovan Wattanporn and Quach Nguyen
7
Manuel Pina Babbitt
May 4, 1999
Leah Schendel
8
Darrell Keith Rich
March 15, 2000
Annette Fay Edwards, Patricia Ann Moore, Linda Diane Slovik, and
Annette Lynn Selix
9
Robert Lee Massie
March 27, 2001
Boris G. Naumoff
10
Stephen Wayne Anderson January 29, 2002
Elizabeth Lyman
11
Donald Jay Beardslee
January 19, 2005
Stacey Benjamin and Patty Geddling
12
Stanley Tookie Williams
December 13, 2005
Albert Owens, Yen-Yi Yang, Tsai-Shai Lin, and Yee-Chen Lin
13
Clarence Ray Allen
January 17, 2006
Bryon Schletewitz, Josephine Rocha, and Douglas White
Davis
Schwarzenegger
Method
Lethal Injection
# of executions by # of states authorizing
method since 1976
method
1143 (incl. 36 by
one-drug protocol)
Jurisdictions that Authorize
35 states + U.S. Military Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut*, Delaware, Florida,
and U.S. Gov't
Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico*, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government
*New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. However, the law wasn't retroactive,
leaving two people on the state's death row. Connecticut abolished the death penalty in
2012. However, the law wasn't retroactive, leaving 11 people on the state's death row.
Electrocution
157
9 states (all have lethal Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, [Oklahoma], South Carolina, Tennessee,
injection as primary
Virginia
method)
Gas Chamber
11
4 states (all have lethal Arizona, California, Missouri, [Wyoming]
injection as primary
method)
Hanging
3
2 states (all have lethal New Hampshire, Washington
injection as primary
method)
Firing Squad
3
1 state (all have lethal
injection as primary
method)
[Oklahoma], Utah
Utah no longer offers the firing squad as an option, but would allow it only for inmates
who chose this method prior to its elimination .
Oklahoma offers firing squad only if lethal injection and electrocution are found
unconstitutional.