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Criminal procedure

death penalty

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.

Hawaii does not have the death penalty as a potential punishment for any criminal offense. The state abolished capital punishment in 1957, and it is one of the twenty-two states, along with the District of Columbia, that do not practice capital punishment. The death penalty is not an option under any circumstances in Hawaii, regardless of the severity of the crime. This means that even for the most serious offenses, such as murder, the state's legal system does not include death as a sentencing option. Instead, the state imposes alternative forms of punishment, such as life imprisonment, for capital offenses.

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Criminal procedure

death penalty

Individual & Family Legal Plan

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Hawaii State Code

Hawaii State Code

Criminal procedure

death penalty

Articles