Georgia Death Penalty

Georgia's Death Penalty: History, Execution, and Current Status

Georgia's History with Capital Punishment

Georgia has a long and controversial history with the death penalty, dating back to colonial times. The first recorded execution in the state occurred in 1735, and Georgia employed capital punishment continuously until the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 ruling in Furman v Georgia, which declared all state death penalty statutes unconstitutional.

In 1973, Georgia reintroduced the death penalty, and since then has executed 77 individuals. However, the state has faced significant legal challenges to its death penalty statute, including the Supreme Court's 1982 ruling in Gregg v Georgia, which upheld the constitutionality of Georgia's capital punishment law.

Georgia's Death Row

As of January 2023, there were 62 inmates on Georgia's death row. The vast majority of these inmates are men (94%). The average age of an inmate on death row is 53 years old, and the average length of time spent on death row is 17 years.

Death row inmates are housed in a dedicated unit at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia. They are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, and are allowed out of their cells for one hour of recreation each day.

Recent Executions in Georgia

Georgia late Wednesday executed a man for the first time since January 2020 joining other states that have revived the practice as the death. The execution of Gregory Paul Dekle, 51, marked the first time Georgia carried out a death sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 declined to intervene in another Georgia case involving a similar execution method and upheld Alabama's use of nitrogen hypoxia.

Before Dekle, Georgia carried out its most recent execution in June 2020. The state has executed 77 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Conclusion

The death penalty remains a controversial issue in Georgia, with strong opinions on both sides of the debate. However, the state's history with capital punishment, its current execution procedures, and the recent executions in the state all point to the fact that Georgia is a state that supports the death penalty.