Further InfoBackground Information
It is fair to say that the death penalty has a long history and started with the existence of human life. To sacrifice humans to appease the gods, to ask them for a large crop, or request protection from illness was the beginning. The motivation behind the legal death penalty is revenge and deterrence.
35 US states have the death penalty in their law today. Additionally we have the death penalty in federal law (this means that also states without death penalty can under certain circumstances sentence a person to die) and the death penalty in military law.
All US states carry out executions by legal injection. However, some states allow the condemned to choose between the lethal injections and a second execution method.
At the Background Information section of this website you will find detailed information about the death penalty in the past and today.