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capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a form of criminal punishment in which a defendant’s life is taken by the state as a penalty for a crime. The judicial order imposing this penalty is called a death sentence, and the act of carrying it out is known as an execution. A defendant who has been sentenced to death and is awaiting execution is said to be on death row.
In the common law tradition, capital punishment has historically been applied to a limited number of serious offenses, including treason, murder, rape, and arson. Even as early as 1688, during a period of strict legal enforcement under the Tudors and Stuarts, only about 50 offenses were punishable by death. However, in the 18th century, this number expanded dramatically. Between the Restoration (1660) and the death of King George III (1820), the number of capital offenses reportedly rose by approximately 190, reflecting the severity of the so-called "Bloody Code" era in England.
In the United States, capital punishment has been abolished in many states, but it remains legal in 27 states:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
In addition, the U.S. federal government and the U.S. military also retain the death penalty.
[Last reviewed in June of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/capital_punishment