The death penalty—also known as capital punishment—refers to the process of state and federal courts sentencing persons convicted of the most serious criminal offenses (capital offenses or capital crimes) to death. The specific crimes and circumstances for which the death penalty is a potential punishment (usually murder) are defined by state and federal statutes enacted by state legislatures and the United States Congress, respectively.

These death penalty or capital punishment statutes are often located in the penal or criminal code, and often in the same statute that defines a criminal offense such as murder. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia do not have the death penalty as a potential punishment for any criminal offense.

In Georgia, the death penalty is a legal form of punishment for certain capital offenses, primarily for cases involving murder. The statutes governing capital punishment are found in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), particularly in Title 16 which deals with crimes and offenses, Title 17 which outlines criminal procedure, and other relevant sections. The state prescribes the death penalty for specific circumstances, such as murder with aggravating factors, including but not limited to murder committed during the commission of another capital felony, murder by a person with a prior record of conviction for a capital felony, or murder of a law enforcement officer, corrections employee, or judicial officer. The method of execution in Georgia is lethal injection. It's important to note that the application of the death penalty is subject to strict legal scrutiny, and defendants facing capital punishment have numerous rights, including the right to appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court has also set forth constitutional limitations on the imposition of the death penalty, which Georgia must adhere to.