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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 Vermont, the death penalty is not a legal form of punishment. Vermont abolished capital punishment in 1965, making it one of the states that do not have the death penalty as a potential punishment for any criminal offense, including those considered capital offenses or capital crimes. The abolition of the death penalty in Vermont reflects a broader trend in the United States where a growing number of states have moved away from capital punishment either through legislative repeal or court rulings. As such, even for the most serious criminal offenses, such as murder, the state of Vermont will not sentence individuals to death.

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Criminal procedure

death penalty

Individual & Family Legal Plan

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Vermont State Code

Vermont State Code

Criminal procedure

death penalty

Articles