Capital Punishment
State and Federal Profile
At year-end 1998, the death penalty was authorized by 38 States and the Federal Government. During 1998, no State enacted new legislation authorizing capital punishment. The New York Court of Appeals struck portions of the New York death penalty provision in December 1998. The affected portions of the statute barred imposition of a death sentence in cases where a guilty plea was entered by a defendant while a defendant pleading not guilty would have to stand trial and face the possibility of a death sentence. These provisions were ruled to violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and Sixth…
