The Supreme Court has not declared the death penalty categorically unconstitutional, but constitutional challenges have narrowed its use for decades.
Opponents point to the Eighth Amendment, equal protection, due process, ineffective counsel, racial disparities, and the irreversible risk of executing an innocent person.
Key arguments
- Arbitrary and discriminatory application across race, geography, poverty, and prosecutorial discretion.
- Execution methods and death row conditions that raise cruel-and-unusual punishment concerns.
- Restrictions on post-conviction review that make it harder to correct errors before an execution.
- The federal death penalty’s political volatility and the risk of irreversible mistakes.