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 Pennsylvania, the death penalty is a legal form of punishment for certain capital offenses, primarily first-degree murder with specific aggravating circumstances. The statutes governing capital punishment are found in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses), Chapter 11 (Authorized Disposition of Offenders), specifically under sections 1102 (Sentence of death for murder of the first degree) and 9711 (Sentencing procedure for murder of the first degree). These statutes outline the process for imposing the death penalty, including the sentencing procedure, the consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the method of execution. As of the knowledge cutoff date in 2023, Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions, which was first imposed by the governor in 2015. This means that while the death penalty remains a legal sentence, no executions are being carried out in practice.