How many states in the US have a Death Penalty?

Question

And is there any correlation between murder rates per capital versus the institution of a state death penalty and those states that have abolished the death penalty. Does the death penalty serve as a deterrent to reduce violent crimes in the states in which it is imposed? In my state, unless the person murders a police officer they are usually back out on the street in far less time than they were originally sentenced. The whole sex offender registry is supposed to replace what would have been death sentences or life imprisonment- and that does not appear to be very effective. Is the death penalty imposed for other crimes besides murder? Are sex offenders sentenced to death, in the case of a multiple rapist or a child molester? Not only are sex offenders a danger to the community they are also a danger to fellow prisoners and should be executed. Do you agree? Are any states doing this?

Answer 1

This will be a long answer, but you asked a lot of questions:



14 states and the District of Columbia do not have the death penalty:



Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia,

Wisconsin



36 states allow it but few execute anyone.



The 36 states are:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,

Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana,

Illinois, 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



In 2006-7, most states carried out no more than 1 execution:



Alabama 4, Arizona 1, California 1, Florida 4, Georgia 1, Indiana 3, Mississippi 1, Montana 1, North Carolina 4, Nevada 1, Ohio 7, Oklahoma 7, South Carolina 2, South Dakota 1, Tennessee 3, Texas 50, Virginia 4,

The other 33 states carried out no executions at all.



Deterrence: Homicide rates are higher in states and regions with the death penalty than in those without it.



At the state level, only a conviction for murder can lead to a death sentence.



Alternates to freeing dangerous criminals: 48 states have life without parole on the books (all except Alaska and New Mexico.) It means exactly what it says.



My opinion about the wisdom of the death penalty for crimes other than homicide, that is for molesting a child, with the safety and well being of the victim in mind:

•First of all, to avoid the death penalty the rapist is more likely to kill the key and only eyewitness, namely his victim.

•Secondly, rape and abuse of children is already one of the most underreported crimes, because they are most often committed by fathers, uncles, and family friends. If the perpetrator can face the death penalty, the crime will be even less likely to be reported.

•Additionally, children who are victims of rape and abuse often carry a heavy load of guilt which would be made much worse if the victimizer is executed.

•Last of all, defendents in rape cases have been misidentified by victims. Take a look at www.innocenceproject.org for information about cases where rape victims identified the wrong person. Children have also been manipulated into making accusations of rape and abuse where no such crimes even occurred.



If you need more info feel free to email me.



Sources:



Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.



FBI http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_04.html

Answer 2

There are too many questions in there to give a complete answer. The last number that I saw was about 38 states have the death penalty.



For the most part, it is limited to murder and treason. (A recent court ruling precluded the death penalty for child sex offenses, clarifying an earlier ruling that it was not availalbe for adult sex offenses.)



There are a lot of studies out there on the death penalty as a deterrent. Early studies looked just at the raw numbers per capita. Recent studies have used advanced mathematical formulas to try to control for other factors like population density that are thought to possibly effect the crime rate. Some of the studies find a deterrent effect, some do not.

Answer 3

Actually yes. Under Federal Law, the death penatly can be applied in any state. However, that's only for federal crimes. Here in Michigan, we do not have the death penalty, but a person was recently tried with the possibility of death because he killed an armored guard which is a federal crime. To answer the intent of your question, Michigan and several other states do not have the death penalty under state law.

Answer 4

That is too complicated an issue to give an intelligent answer in this forum.

Answer 5

i think 36 but it depends they might have changed there laws

Answer 6

there are 36 state,s also the u.s. govt and the u.s. military

www.deathpenaltyinfo.org.