Methods Of Execution - Death Penalty Information Center

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Overview

The pri­ma­ry means of exe­cu­tion in the U.S. have been hang­ing, elec­tro­cu­tion, the gas cham­ber, fir­ing squad, and lethal injec­tion. The Supreme Court has nev­er found a method of exe­cu­tion to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, though some meth­ods have been declared uncon­sti­tu­tion­al by state courts. The pre­dom­i­nance of lethal injec­tion as the pre­ferred means of exe­cu­tion in all states in the mod­ern era may have put off any judg­ment by the Court regard­ing older methods.

Because of a resis­tance by drug man­u­fac­tur­ers to pro­vide the drugs typ­i­cal­ly used in lethal injec­tions, some states now allow the use of alter­na­tive meth­ods if lethal injec­tion can­not be per­formed. Controversies sur­round­ing the method to be used have delayed exe­cu­tions in many states, con­tribut­ing to an over­all decline in the use of the death penalty.

Authorized Methods

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.

Method# of exe­cu­tions by method since 1976# of states autho­riz­ing methodJurisdictions that Authorize
Lethal Injection1463

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.

Electrocution1639 states (in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er 8 have lethal injec­tion as default 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 Gas199 states (all have lethal injec­tion as default method)

[Alabama], Arkansas, Arizona, California, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], Missouri, [Oklahoma], [Wyoming]

Five states (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma) specif­i­cal­ly autho­rize exe­cu­tion by nitro­gen hypox­ia. Alabama and Louisiana have issued a pro­to­col for its use. Alabama and Louisiana are the only states that have per­formed an exe­cu­tion by nitrogen hypoxia.

Firing Squad65 states (in Idaho, fir­ing squad will be the pri­ma­ry method eff. July 2026; in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er states have lethal injec­tion as primary method)Idaho, [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], [Utah], [South Carolina]

^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.

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