1998
In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason. Later, Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for all crimes. By the end of the century, the world would see the countries of Venezuela, Portugal, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Brazil and Ecuador follow suit. The issue of arbitrariness of the death penalty was again be brought before the Supreme Court in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, Jackson v. Georgia, and Branch v. Texas (known collectively as the landmark case Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238)). The United States needs to abolish the death penalty. It's archaic, costly, ineffective, and most importantly, unjust. The first place to start with the death penalty may be philosophical. The purpose of our criminal justice system is to deter crime, rehabilitate convicts, and incapacitate hardened criminals. The death penalty undermines the very purpose of our criminal justice system. Since the death penalty does not serve any purpose that cannot be served through the justice system without it, and any potential benefits (already shown to be illusory) would serve ancillary ends, it should be abolished -- again. The last executions UK took place in 1964, and the death penalty was abolished in 1998. In 2004 the UK became a party to the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and prohibited the restoration of the death penalty. Death penalty, capital punishment, or execution is the legal process of putting a person to death as a punishment for a crime. Modern History of Death Penalty. 1608 - Earliest death penalty in the British American Colonies handed out for treason. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and took place in 1964, prior to capital punishment being abolished for murder (in 1965 in Great Britain and in 1973 in Northern Ireland). Although not applied since, the death penalty was abolished in all circumstances in 1998. In 2004 the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights became binding on the United Kingdom, prohibiting the restoration of the death penalty for as long as the UK is a party to the Convention. In 1938 the issue of the abolition of capital punishment was brought before parliament. A clause within the Criminal Justice Bill called for an experimental five-year suspension of the death penalty. When war broke out in 1939 the bill was postponed. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death penalty Wednesday, more than a decade after the state imposed a moratorium on executions out of concern that innocent people could be put to death by a justice system that had wrongly condemned 13 men.  California currently spends $184 million on the death penalty each year and is on track to spend $1 billion in the next five years. There are many reasons the death penalty should be abolished. It is a complex issue and it is difficult to point to any single fact or argument as the most important.  Should the Death Penalty be Abolished. Death penalty, capital punishment, or execution is the legal process of putting a person to death as a punishment for a crime. Modern History of Death Penalty. 1608 - Earliest death penalty in the British American Colonies handed out for treason. Since 2007, six states have abolished the death penalty: Maryland, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico and New Jersey. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a research group opposed to the death penalty, no conservative state has banned capital punishment since North Dakota in 1973. LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska on Wednesday became the first conservative state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty, with lawmakers defying their Republican governor, Pete Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment who had lobbied vigorously against banning it. Why the Death Penalty should be abolished. The risk of executing innocent people exists in any justice system There have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent people. No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain susceptible to human failure. Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. The death penalty does not deter crime effectively The death penalty lacks the deterrent effect which is commonly referred to by its advocates. As recently stated by the General Assembly of the United Nations, “there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty” (UNGA Resolution 65/206).
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-mcelwee/abolish-death-penalty_b_3557782.html http://www.mapsofworld.com/infographics/poll/should-death-penalty-be-abolished-facts-infographic-text.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom http://www.npr.org/2011/03/09/134394946/illinois-abolishes-death-penalty http://www.deathpenalty.org/section.php?id=13 http://www.mapsofworld.com/infographics/poll/should-death-penalty-be-abolished-facts-infographic-text.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/us/nebraska-abolishes-death-penalty.html http://www.icomdp.org/arguments-against-the-death-penalty/
when was the death penalty abolished