Interesting facts about the death penalty in the US. It's interesting that due to the availability of lethal injection drugs or nitrogen gas many states still authorize other means as an alternative.
Both Florida and Tennessee explicitly authorize lethal injection and electrocution, but state that, if those methods are found unconstitutional, prisoners may be executed by any constitutional method of execution.
NOTE: [Brackets] around a state indicate that the state authorizes the listed method as an alternative method if other methods are found to be unconstitutional or are unavailable/impractical. Click on the state to obtain specific information about the methods authorized.
Lethal Injection | 1403 | 28 states+ and U.S. Military and U.S. Gov’t In South Carolina, lethal injection may be elected as an alternative method, if available. +includes 1 state that no longer have an active death penalty | Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida^, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire*, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, [South Carolina], South Dakota, Tennessee^, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government *New Hampshire abolished the death penalty but the repeal may not apply retroactively, leaving a prisoner on death row facing possible execution. To find the drug protocols used by states, see State-by-State Lethal Injection. |
Electrocution | 163 | 8 states (in South Carolina, electrocution is the primary method; the other 7 have lethal injection as primary method). | [Alabama], [Arkansas], Florida, Kentucky, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], South Carolina, [Tennessee] The supreme courts of Georgia (2001) and Nebraska (2008) have ruled that the use of the electric chair violates their state constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. Virginia had authorized the electric chair as a method of execution in some cases, but it repealed the death penalty in March 2021. |
Lethal Gas | 12 | 9 states (all have lethal injection as primary method) | [Alabama], Arizona, California, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], Missouri, [Oklahoma], [Wyoming] Four states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma) specifically authorize execution by nitrogen hypoxia, though only Alabama has issued a protocol for its use. Alabama is the only state that has performed an execution by nitrogen hypoxia. The other states listed authorize “lethal gas,” but do not specify what type of gas would be used. |
Firing Squad | 3 | 5 states (in South Carolina, electrocution is the primary method; the other states have lethal injection as primary method) | [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], [Utah], [South Carolina], [Idaho] |
Both Florida and Tennessee explicitly authorize lethal injection and electrocution, but state that, if those methods are found unconstitutional, prisoners may be executed by any constitutional method of execution.
NOTE: [Brackets] around a state indicate that the state authorizes the listed method as an alternative method if other methods are found to be unconstitutional or are unavailable/impractical. Click on the state to obtain specific information about the methods authorized.
Methods of Execution
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