Utah senate votes to repeal death penalty News
Utah senate votes to repeal death penalty

The Utah Senate [official website] voted 20-9 on Tuesday in favor of a bill [SB 189] to repeal the death penalty. The Death Penalty Amendments bill would reorganize murder and homicide statutes as non capital offenses [JURIST op-ed] and give the prosecutors until May to seek a notice of capital punishment for any pending case. The legislation awaits final approval in the senate before heading to the House of Representatives. Utah is one of more than 30 states that retains the death penalty, and last year the state approved the use of death by firing squad [JURIST report] as an alternative to lethal injection.

Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. The Florida Supreme Court [official website] in February stayed [order, PDF] the execution of Cary Michael Lambrix amid growing concern [JURIST Report] about the constitutionality of Florida’s death penalty scheme.The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 8-1 in January in Hurst v. Florida [docket] that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme violates [JURIST Report] the Sixth Amendment. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood[official website] stated in January that he plans to ask lawmakers to approve the firing squad, electrocution or nitrogen gas as alternate methods of execution [press release] if the state prohibits lethal injections.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.