1972: Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional

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• Background Info
• Vocabulary

• On June 29, 1972, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. By a narrow margin, the justices said that executing a criminal was “cruel and unusual punishment,” and violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Just four years later, the court reinstated the death penalty under a “model of guided discretion.”

   

  Today, use of the death penalty is decided upon by individual states. Many states do not use the death penalty at all, including New Mexico, North Dakota, and Maine. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia have used it the most often.

   

  As of 2013, the United States is one of just 58 nations that use capital punishment. The nations that use the death penalty most frequently are China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. 

• Term	Part of Speech	Definition	Encyclopedic Entry
  amendment	Noun	change made to a law or set of laws.
  constitution	Noun	system of ideas and general laws that guide a nation, state, or other organization.
  criminal	Noun	person convicted of a crime.
  death penalty	Noun	punishment by execution. Also called capital punishment.
  discretion	Noun	thoughtful judgement or wisdom.
  execute	Verb	to put to death by order of the law or in a well-planned manner.
  frequent	Adjective	often.
  margin	Noun	amount allowed or available beyond what is necessary.
  punishment	Noun	penalty inflicted for a crime or offense.
  reinstate	Verb	to restore or put a position or policy back in place.
  Supreme Court	Noun	highest judicial authority on issues of national or constitutional importance in the U.S.
  unconstitutional	Adjective	against the laws of the United States Constitution.
  violate	Verb	to break a rule.