Capital punishment (also called the death penalty or execution) in the United States is a legal sentence in 32 states^[1] and the federal civilian and military legal systems. Its application is limited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution to aggravated murders committed by mentally competent adults.

Capital punishment was a penalty for many felonies under English common law, and it was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence. The methods of execution and the crimes subject to the death penalty vary by state and have changed over time. The most common method since 1976 has been lethal injection. Since capital punishment wasreinstated in 1976, thirty-four states have performed executions.

In 2013, 39 inmates were executed in the United States,^[2] and 3,088 were on death row^[3] – an execution rate of less than 2%. Many states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Arizona, regularly execute convicted murderers. Texas has performed the most executions by far, and Oklahoma has had (through mid-2011) the highest per capita execution rate.^[4]

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The United States first legalized and used lethal injection as a method of execution.

A map showing the use of the death penalty in the United States.

State does not use the death penalty.

State uses the death penalty.

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Capital punishment since 1976
(by jurisdiction)
Jurisdiction	Executions ^{[nb 1]}	Current death row inmates ^{[nb 2]}
Texas	518	276
Oklahoma	111	49
Virginia	110	8
Florida	89	404
Missouri	80	39
Alabama	56	198
Georgia	55	90
Ohio	53	144
North Carolina	43	160
South Carolina	43	47
Arizona	37	123
Louisiana	28	85
Arkansas	27	33
Mississippi	21	49
Indiana	20	14
Delaware	16	18
California	13	745
Illinois	12	0^{[nb 3]}
Nevada	12	78
Utah	7	9
Tennessee	6	75
Maryland	5	4
Washington	5	9
Federal govt.	3	63
Idaho	3	11
Kentucky	3	35
Montana	3	2
Nebraska	3	11
Pennsylvania	3	188
South Dakota	3	3
Oregon	2	36
Colorado	1	3
Connecticut	1	12
New Mexico	1	2
Wyoming	1	1
Kansas	0	10
New Hampshire	0	1
U.S. military	0	6
Total^{[nb 4]}	1,394	3,035
No current death penalty statute: Alaska, Connecticut^{[nb 5]},Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland^{[nb 6]}, Michigan,Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico^{[nb 7]}, North Dakota,Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. Statute ruled unconstitutional: Massachusetts^{[nb 8]} and New York^{[nb 9]}. Notes: ^ As of December 10, 2014; source ^ As of October 1, 2014; source ^ "Quinn signs death penalty ban, commutes 15 death row sentences to life". Chicago Tribune. March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011. ^ Some inmates are on death row in more than one state, so the total may be lower than sum of state numbers. ^ "Connecticut governor signs death penalty repeal". Associated Press. April 25, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012. ^ Simpson, Ian (2 May 2013). "Maryland becomes latest U.S. state to abolish death penalty". Yahoo! News. Reuters. Archived fromthe original on 24 June 2013. ^ Baker, Deborah (3 March 2009). "New Mexico Bans Death Penalty". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 October 2013. ^ Massachusetts' death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional in 1984. source The most recent execution was in 1947. The state has no death row. ^ New York's death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional on June 24, 2004. The last person who was still on death row was re-sentenced to life in prison without parole on October 24, 2007.source The most recent execution was in 1963. The state has no death row.