The death penalty never worked when Alaska was a territory. Vic Fischer, who was one of the delegates writing the statehood constitution said more than once it was never applied fairly. And which is why it was deleted. There were some death penalty cases that went through during the territorial days. There were four hangings - I call them lynchings - two Alaska Native men, one Black man, and a poor immigrant from Portugal -were hanged. The immigrant and the two Native men barely spoke English. Source: The UAA Justice Center.