Capital punishment by the United States military
The use of capital punishment by the United States military is a legal punishment in martial criminal justice. Despite its legality, capital punishment has not been imposed by the U.S. military in over sixty years.
For an overview of capital punishment by all jurisdictions of the United States, see Capital punishment in the United States. For capital punishment for civilians by the federal government, see Capital punishment by the United States federal government.
Currently, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 14 offenses are punishable by death. Under the following sections of the UCMJ, the death penalty can be imposed in both times of war and peace:
Another four provisions of the UCMJ carry a death sentence only if the crime is committed during times of war:
Under article 120, rape was once punishable by death, but the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Coker v. Georgia and Kennedy v. Louisiana that the death penalty for rape is unconstitutional.
Previous use[edit]
The Creek War[edit]
In 1814, Private John Woods of the 39th United States Infantry was executed by a firing squad for assaulting a superior officer. Andrew Jackson was troubled by serious discipline problems with his militia and volunteers, particularly the militia from East Tennessee. So he prosecuted Private John Woods, only 18 years old, under allegedly false charges. Private Woods had spent his last month in the camp of the 39th. The night before his execution the officers of the 39th signed and sent Jackson a petition asking for mercy. He not only failed to grant it, he made the 39th shoot him. The 39th was never happy with Jackson after that. Colonel John Williams, the commanding officer of the 39th United States Infantry, said in a campaign pamphlet in 1828 that Private Woods cried "bitterly and loudly"; the Jackson camp claimed he was belligerent and deserved to die.[10]