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Abstract
This topic investigated the death penalty within the United States Military and the Federal System. Death Penalty laws go back as far as the Eighteenth Century B. ... The U.S. Military death penalty utilizes the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) as the bedrock of military law. ... If the jury recommends the death penalty and the judge agrees then the criminal will face some form of execution, lethal injection is the most common form used today. There was a period from 1972 to 1976 that capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. ... Their reason for this decision was that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. ... In any event, death penalty issues should not be quite so vulnerable to fashionable thought. ... Tennessee (1991), the U.S. ...
The Death Penalty in America
According to Randa, Britain influenced Americas use of the death penalty more than any other country. ... In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians. (1997)
Randa (1997) wrote the first known execution in the territory now known as the United States of America was of Daniel Frank, put to death in 1622 in the Colony of Virginia for the crime of theft. Since then the death penalty has usually been a feature of the criminal justice system, first in the American colonies and then after independence, in the U.S.
Laws regarding the death penalty varied from colony to colony. ... Under these laws, offenses such as striking ones mother or father, or denying the "true God," were punishable by death. (Randa, 1997)
Early Death Penalty Laws
Randa (1997) wrote the first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B. ... in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B. ... s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B. ... s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B. ... s Roman law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. ... By the 1700s, 222 crimes were punishable by death in Britain, including stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. Because of the severity of the death penalty, many juries would not convict defendants if the offense were not serious. This led to reforms of Britains death penalty. From 1823 to 1837, the death penalty was eliminated for over 100 of the 222 crimes punishable by death. ... 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. (Randa, 1997)
During the Civil War, opposition to the death penalty waned, as more attention was given to the anti-slavery movement. ...
Three out of five executions during that period took place in the southern U.S. ... (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
From the first woman executed in the U.S., Jane Champion, who was hanged in James City, Virginia in 1632, to the 1998 executions of Karla Faye Tucker in Texas and Judi Buenoano in Florida, women have constituted only 3% of U.S. ... In fact, only five women have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated. (OShea, 1999)
According to Peacenet, these methods of executions are used in these states:
Electrocution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky,
Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
Firing Squad: Idaho, Utah
Gas Chamber: Arizona, California, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina
Hanging: Montana, Washington
Lethal Injection: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,
Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas,
Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
These 12 states (plus DC) have no death penalty: Alaska, Washington DC, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin. (Peacenet)
Facts and Overview of the Military & Federal Death Penalty System
Research on military capital punishment is a neglected topic in criminology. According to Lilly (1995), it has been reported that nearly 80% of the U.S. ... Between 1942 and D-Day 1944, more than a million and a half U.S. soldiers were stationed in the United Kingdom, and while there is not a complete account of the number of crimes they committed, victims and punishment, the U.S. ...
United States military executions, including its executions for war crimes of selected enemy offenders, are a neglected topic in criminology. During 1930 - 1967, the U.S. ... The U.S. ... (Lilly, 1995)
Historically, women have not been subject to the death penalty at the same rate as men.
The U.S. Military does not forbid the execution of the mentally retarded or juvenile offenders, though its admission policies make such executions very unlikely. The Military does have a sentence of life without parole.
According to Powers, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is the bedrock of military law. The UCMJ is a federal law, enacted by Congress. ... Lesser-Included Offense: These are lesser offenses that a military court may still find an accused guilty of, even if the court finds the accused not guilty of the originally charged offense. ... If a military court finds the accused not guilty of the crime of Murder, the court can still find the accused guilty of Manslaughter, without the government having to amend the charges. ... (Powers, 2004)
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses can be punishable by death, though many of these crimes -- such as desertion or disobeying a superior commissioned officers orders -- carry the death penalty only in time of war. (Powers, 2004)
The "convening authority" -- a high-ranking commanding officer who decides to bring the case to trial -- chooses whether the government will seek a death sentence. If the case is referred capitally, the defendant cannot choose a bench (judge only) trial; rather, the case must be tried before a panel of at least five military members. The Uniform Code of Military Justice also precludes the defendant in a capital case from pleading guilty. Thus, every military death penalty case is resolved by trial before a panel of service members.
A death penalty will be imposed only if the panel members reach unanimous agreement on four separate points. First, a military defendant cannot be sentenced to death absent a unanimous conviction of a death-eligible offense. ... Other factors -- such as committing an offense with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or knowingly endangering a mission -- are unique to the military. ... A death penalty may not be imposed unless the members unanimously conclude that the aggravating circumstances substantially outweigh the mitigating circumstances.
Finally, even if every member agrees upon the existence of an aggravating factor and concludes that the evidence in aggravation outweighs the extenuating and mitigating evidence, any member is still free to choose a sentence other than death. Thus, members must unanimously conclude that death is an appropriate sentence.
When a death sentence is imposed, the record is initially reviewed by the convening authority, which has the power to reduce sentences and to set aside guilty findings. ... Several years ago, a Marine Corps general commuted an adjudged death sentence to imprisonment for life. If the convening authority approves the death sentence, the condemned service member will be moved to military death row.
The record of trial then goes before one of the military justice systems four intermediate appellate courts: the Army, Navy-Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals. If the Court of Criminal Appeals affirms a death sentence, the case then goes before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, as the Court of Military Appeals was renamed in 1994. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is a five-member Article 1 court that sits atop the military justice system. ... The Supreme Courts certiorari jurisdiction over military justice cases. ... When the Supreme Court affirms (the sentence) or denies certiorari in a military capital case, the death sentence is then reviewed by the executive branch. If the President approves the death sentence, the condemned service member can seek habeas relief from the Article III judiciary. If the habeas petition is ultimately denied, the condemned service member will be led from death row down a flight of stairs to the USDBs death chamber. ...
Currently, there are seven inmates on death row. ...
United States Military Death Row Roster includes the following: Kenneth Parker (B), Wade L. ...
Date of last military execution: On April 13, 1961, U.S. ... (Serrano, 1994) Minimum Age to Receive the Death Penalty: 18 years
Death Row Location: U.S. ...
In 1983, the Armed Forces Court of Appeals held in U.S. ... 354, that military capital sentencing procedures were unconstitutional for failing to require a finding of individualized aggravating circumstances.
Approximate Word count = 7509
Approximate Pages = 30
(250 words per page double spaced)
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