Capital Punishment in USA

Capital Punishment(also called the Death penalty or Execution) in USA is limited under the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution and, in practice, is used almost exclusively for aggravated murders committed by mentally competent adults.

The methods of execution and the crimes subject to the death penalty vary by state and have changed over time.

The most common method since 1976 has been Lethal Injection

States without capital punishment

Article 4, Section 46 of Michigan's fourth Constitution (ratified in 1963; effective in 1964) prohibits any law providing for the penalty of death.

Alaska and Hawaii, abolished the death penalty prior to statehood

States That Abolish Capital Punishment

The District of Columbia and the following 18 U.S. states currently do not have an enforceable death penalty statute(year of abolishment)

• Alaska(1957)
• Connecticut(2012)
• Hawaii(1957)
• Illinois (2011)
• Iowa (1965)
• Maine(1887)
• Maryland(2013)
• Massachusetts (1984)
• Michigan(1846)
• Minnesota(1911)
• New Jersey(2007)
• New Mexico (2009)
• New York (2007)
• North Dakota(1973)
• Rhode Island(1984)
• Vermont(1964)
• West Virginia (1965)
• Wisconsin(1853)

 Suspension of Capital Punishment by Supreme Court

Capital punishment was suspended in the United States from 1972 through 1976 primarily as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in the case of  Furman Vs Georgia
In this case, the Supreme Court found that the death penalty was being imposed in an unconstitutional manner, on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution

The Supreme Court has never ruled the death penalty to be per se unconstitutional.

In Furman, the Supreme Court considered a group of consolidated cases. The lead case involved an individual convicted under Georgia's death penalty statute, which featured a "unitary trial" procedure in which the jury was asked to return a verdict of guilt or innocence and, simultaneously, determine whether the defendant would be punished by death or life imprisonment.
In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court struck down the impositions of the death penalty in each of the consolidated cases as unconstitutional. The five justices in the majority did not produce a common opinion or rationale for their decision, however, and agreed only on a short statement announcing the result