the death penalty was reinstated in california in 1977.
the death penalty was reinstated in california in 1977.
when was the death penalty reinstated in california?
1977
on june 25, 2008, the supreme court, splitting 5–4, held that "the eighth amendment bars louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim's death." in its majority opinion authored by justice kennedy, the court explained that the application of the death penalty had to rest on national consensus, and that as only six states permitted the death penalty for child rape, no such consensus existed. "unlike louisiana, those states all require that a defendant have a previous rape conviction or some other aggravating factor in order to be subject to the death penalty, and no one has yet been sentenced to death under any of the laws." in formulating the idea of "national consensus" the court relied on the previous cases "roper v. simmons" (2005), which outlawed the execution of minors, and "coker v. georgia" (1977), which outlawed the application of the death penalty for the crime of rape. according to the court, "[t]he death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child." the opinion, which was joined by the court's four more liberal judges, went on to state, "the court concludes that there is a distinction between intentional first–degree murder, on the one hand, and non–homicide crimes against individuals, even including child rape, on the other. the latter crimes may be devastating in their harm, as here, but in terms of moral depravity and of the injury to the person and to the public, they cannot compare to murder in their severity and irrevocability." the opinion concluded that in cases of crimes against individuals, "the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken."
kennedy v. louisiana
other states which abolished the death penalty for murder before "gregg v. georgia" include: minnesota in 1911, vermont in 1964, iowa and west virginia in 1965 and north dakota in 1973. hawaii abolished the death penalty in 1948 and alaska in 1957, both before their statehood. puerto rico repealed it in 1929 and the district of columbia in 1981. arizona and oregon abolished the death penalty by popular vote in 1916 and 1964 respectively, but both reinstated it, again by popular vote, some years later; arizona reinstated the death penalty in 1918 and oregon in 1978. in oregon, the measure reinstating the death penalty was overturned by the oregon supreme court in 1981, but oregon voters again reinstated the death penalty in 1984. puerto rico and michigan are the only two u.s. jurisdictions to have explicitly prohibited capital punishment in their constitutions: in 1952 and 1964, respectively.
capital punishment in the united states