In 1968, executions were suspended in the United States while the courts debated the legitimacy of capital punishment. After the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the application of the death penalty in thirty-five states was unconstitutional. This decision resulted in significant reforms to capital punishment at the state level, including a ban on mandatory death penalties, restricting capital punishment to the crime of murder, and obligatory appeals for death sentences. The Supreme Court then reinstated the death penalty in 1976, enabling states to resume executions in 1977. During the 1980s and 1990s the rise in violent crime apparently bolstered popular support for capital punishment. Since the mid-1990s, 60 to 75 percent of the American public has favored the death penalty—many maintaining that it is the most just punishment for the crime of murder.

Supporters of capital punishment...