capital punishment: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 23, 2026

News •

Lethal injection aims to disguise the brutal reality of capital punishment • Oct. 15, 2026, 6:31 PM ET (The Orange County Register)

Facts

Also Known As	execution • death penalty

Photos

Padded gurney with black restraints and IV stands, used for lethal injection, sits in a bare room with white cinder block walls at the New Mexico state penitentiary.

Louis XVI: Execution by guillotine

Protestors at an anti-death penalty rally hold signs, including a large banner reading Stop Executions, with people of various ages standing and sitting in a public square.

Protesters in front of the US Supreme Court hold signs reading Free Mumia and Abolish the Death Penalty during a demonstration for Mumia Abu-Jamal.

protest against capital punishment

See All Images and Interactives →

Topics

public execution ducking stool gibbeting lethal injection capital punishment in the United States crucifixion Today in History—March 26: Great Britain Passes the Murder Act gas chamber blood eagle electrocution diversion house arrest corporal punishment probation shunning exile and banishment Baumes Laws prison retributive justice restorative justice

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

retributive justice: Retribution and the death penalty

Key People

default image

Caryl Chessman

American criminal