The death penalty in Alabama was reinstated on March 25, 1976, when Alabama's legislature passed, and Governor George Wallace signed, a new death penalty statute to comply with Furman v. Georgia, the 1972 case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that death-penalty statutes then in existence were unconstitutional, effectively banning capital punishment until Gregg v. Georgia in 1976. No execution was carried out until 1977.
Methods
From 1927 until 2002, electrocution was the only method of execution in Alabama. In July 2002, lethal injection became the default method, although electrocution can still be used at the request of the prisone
Since the introduction of lethal injection, every inmate has chosen it over the electric chair. The last inmate executed involuntarily in the chair in Alabama was Lynda Lyon Block.
Executions are carried out at the Holman Correctional Facility, near Atmore, Alabama.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally exempt from execution.
Capital crimes
Intentional murder with any of 18 aggravating factors can be charged as capital murder. Juries can recommend a sentence, but the trial judge makes the determination.
Clemency
The Governor of Alabama has sole authority to grant a commutation of sentence in capital (as well as non-capital) cases.
There has been only one commutation of a death sentence since 1976. Judith Ann Neelley's death sentence was commuted to life in prison by outgoing Governor Fob James in January 1999.
Earlier history
Between 1812 and 1965, 708 people were executed in Alabama.
Until 1927, hanging was the primary method of execution, although one person was shot.
In addition to murder, capital crimes in Alabama formerly included rape, arson, and robbery. Alabama executed the last person convicted of a crime other than murder in the U.S.: James Coburn, for robbery, in 1964.
Eighteen of the people executed in the pre-Furman era were women.
Most people executed for rape in Alabama were black. Many of these cases were controversial.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital...ent_in_Alabama
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