At present, capital punishment varies from state to state; it is outlawed in some states but used in most others. However, the death penalty under federal law is applicable in every state. Other forms of capital punishment have largely been replaced by
lethal injection in the U.S., where the condemned may choose this as an option. Only lethal injection is used at the federal level and only the states of
Washington and
New Hampshire still retain hanging as an option. Hanging was the preferred method of execution in the state of
Iowa until 1965, when Iowa abolished the death penalty. The last inmate to be executed by hanging in the state of Iowa was condemned murderer
Victor Feguer, on
March 15,
1963. Currently, Iowa has no death penalty, all suspects convicted of capital murder are automatically sentenced to life without parole.
Laws in
Delaware were changed in 1986 to specify lethal injection, except for those convicted prior to 1986, who were allowed to choose hanging. If a choice was not made, or the convict refused to choose injection, then hanging was the default method. This was the case in the 1996 execution of
Billy Bailey, the most recent hanging in American history. Since the hanging of Bailey, no Delaware prisoner has fit into this category, thus the practice has ended there
de facto, and the gallows have been dismantled.
In New Hampshire, if it is found to be 'impractical' to carry out the execution by lethal injection, then the condemned will be hanged, and in Washington the condemned still has an outright choice between hanging and lethal injection.
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