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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.

In the state of New York, the death penalty is not currently an available punishment for any criminal offense. New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, declared the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional in 2004 in the case of People v. LaValle. Since then, there have been no executions, and the state has not sought to reinstate capital punishment through legislation. Therefore, even for the most serious offenses, such as murder, the state of New York does not impose the death penalty. This aligns New York with the twenty-two other states and the District of Columbia, where capital punishment is also not an option.

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Criminal procedure

death penalty

Individual & Family Legal Plan

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New-York State Code

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Criminal procedure

death penalty

New-York State Code