By Olivia Wathne, Esq. | Legally reviewed by FindLaw Staff | Last reviewed October 15, 2024
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Delaware abolished capital punishment, or the death penalty, after years of debate and legal battles. Many Delawareans and supporters worked hard to end the death penalty, leading to a 2016 ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court and changes in the law that removed it. Now, Delaware — the First State — is one of the states that no longer has the death penalty.
The death penalty began in Delaware in 1662 with the state's first hanging. For more than 200 years, hanging was the official method of execution until the state replaced it with lethal injection in 1986. The gallows came down in 2003 as hanging was no longer an option.
Delaware's capital sentencing system faced increasing scrutiny, culminating in a pivotal 2016 decision by the Delaware Supreme Court, which ruled the state's death penalty unconstitutional following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2016 decision in Hurst v. Florida. This decision invalidated mandatory death sentence statutes, leading Gov. Jack Markell to support legislative efforts by the Delaware House of Representatives and Senate to repeal the death penalty. In 2024, the death penalty was officially abolished in Delaware.
To an extent, states can have their own capital punishment laws. Currently, 23 states have banned capital punishment or have a governor's hold on executions, including Delaware, Washington, New York, and Maryland. The remaining 27 states have a state death penalty statute in place.
The following table outlines Delaware's death penalty laws, which were struck down in 2016 and abolished in 2024.
| Code section | Tit. 11 §4209 |
|---|---|
| Is capital punishment allowed? | No |
| Effect of defendant's incapacity | Exempt from execution while incapacitated |
| Minimum age | 18 |
| Available for crimes other than homicide? | None |
| Definition of capital homicide | Capital homicide in Delaware includes murder committed while escaping custody or to avoid arrest; against law enforcement officers, corrections employees, or firemen in the line of duty; or against judges or state officials due to their roles. It also includes murders for ransom, to prevent testimony, for financial gain, or by someone with a history of violent felonies. Additional factors include heinous acts involving torture or explosives, multiple victims, or murder of a vulnerable person (e.g., pregnant, disabled, elderly). It also covers murders by agents or employees, those serving life sentences, or premeditated acts intended to interfere with constitutional rights or motivated by race, religion, national origin, or disability. |
| Method of execution | Lethal injection |
Note: State laws are always subject to change through the passage of new legislation, rulings in the higher courts (including federal decisions), ballot initiatives, and other means. While we strive to provide the most current information available, please consult an attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state laws you are researching.
Delaware's death row, formerly located at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, housed death row inmates sentenced to death for first-degree murder before the state abolished capital punishment in 2016. The facility became central to many capital cases.
Following the Delaware Supreme Court's ruling that declared the state's death penalty unconstitutional and the subsequent repeal of capital punishment, the Department of Correction began transitioning death row inmates to life imprisonment. The final days of Delaware's death row marked a significant shift in the state's approach to capital punishment, as the remaining inmates were either resentenced or had their cases re-evaluated under new legal standards.
Many states have differing laws on the death penalty, and they can change over time. If you would like legal help with a death penalty matter, you can contact a Delaware criminal law attorney. You can also visit FindLaw's Capital Punishment and the Death Penalty section for more articles and information on this topic.
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