Capital punishment

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Capital punishment is the execution of a person by the state as punishment for a crime. Capital punishment may also be referred to as the "death penalty." Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences (i.e., murder, treason). The term capital is derived from Latin capitalis, or "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a person convicted of a capital crime originally was to be punished by the loss of his or her head.[1][2]

Although the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution declares that cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited, the Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a violation of this amendment. As of September 2023, capital punishment was illegal in 23 of the fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia.[3]

Ballotpedia: Index of Terms

States without capital punishment (year of abolishment in parenthesis):

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