Capital Punishment

As of 2000 there were Federal laws providing for the death penalty for murder related to the smuggling of aliens; destruction of aircraft, motor vehicles, or related facilities resulting in death; murder committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting; murder committed at an airport serving international civil aviation; retaliatory murder of a member of the immediate family of law enforcement officials; civil rights offenses resulting in death; murder of a member of Congress, an important executive official, or a Supreme Court Justice; espionage; death resulting form offenses involving transportation of explosives, destruction of government property, or destruction of property related to foreign or interstate commerce; murder committed by the use of a firearm during a crime of violence of a drug-trafficking crime; murder committed in a Federal Government facility; genocide; first-degree murder; murder of a federal judge or law enforcement official; murder of a foreign official; murder by a Federal prisoner; murder of a U.S. national in a foreign country; murder by an escaped Federal prisoner already sentenced to life imprisonment; murder of a State or local law enforcement official or other person aiding in a Federal investigation; murder of a State correctional officer; murder during a kidnapping; murder during a hostage taking; murder of a court officer or juror; murder with the intent of preventing testimony by a witness, victim, or informant; retaliatory murder of a witness, victim, or informant; mailing of injurious articles with intent to kill or resulting in death; assassination or kidnapping resulting in the death of the President or Vice President; murder for hire; murder involved in a racketeering offense; willful wrecking of a train resulting in death; back-robbery-related murder or kidnapping; murder related to a carjacking; murder related to rape or child molestation; murder related to sexual exploitation of children; murder committed during an offense against maritime navigation; murder committed during an offense against a maritime fixed platform; terrorist murder of a U.S. national in another country; murder by the use of a weapon of mass destruction; murder involving torture; treason; murder related to a continuing criminal enterprise or related murder of a Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer; and death resulting from aircraft hijacking. This Point/Counterpoint volume on "Capital Punishment" provides a general introduction to the political and legal issues surrounding capital punishment (and there is even a warning that "It is not intended as legal advice"). Alan Marzilli notes in his Introduction that the controversy over capital punishment has divided courts and been the center of political elections, including presidential elections. The continued use of capital punishment in the United States (38 states have capital offenses) sets it apart from other Western democracies, but even though that puts the nation