The Death Penalty The first known execution in the United States of America was of Daniel Frank, put to death in 1622 in the Colony of Virginia for the crime of theft. Since then the death penalty has almost always been a feature of the criminal justice system, first in the American colonies and then, after independence, in the U.S. Legal challenges to the death penalty culminated in a 5 to 4 U.S. Supreme Court decision …showed first 75 words of 564 total…

…showed last 75 words of 564 total…recent developments of the Death Penalty. The Special Rapporteur is mandated by the U.N. Commission for Human Rights to address instances of executions that violate international standards regarding human rights and the right to life. Amnesty International is a well-known international human rights organization based in London and issues annual reports on human rights issues throughout the world. It advocates for the abolition of the death penalty, and has an ongoing anti-death penalty campaign.