Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
Legal process
When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous. If the jury recommends death, it is required to record what it considers the "aggravating circumstances" about the crime that led it to that decision.
In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, the judge issues a life sentence, even if only one juror opposed death (there is no retrial).
The power of clemency belongs to the Governor of Mississippi.
Capital crimes
The following crimes are punishable by death in Mississippi:
Treason. Murder with one of the following aggravating factors: It was committed by a person under sentence of imprisonment. The defendant was previously convicted of another capital offense or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to many persons. It was committed while the defendant was engaged, or was an accomplice, in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit, any robbery, rape, arson, burglary, kidnapping, aircraft piracy, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse with any child under the age of 12, or nonconsensual unnatural intercourse with mankind, or felonious abuse or battery of a child, or the unlawful use or detonation of a bomb or explosive device. It was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or effecting an escape from custody. It was committed for pecuniary gain. It was committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of laws. It was committed to influence the policy of a governmental entity by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a governmental entity by mass destruction or assassination. It was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. It was committed to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
The laws on the books in Mississippi also provide the death penalty for aircraft hijacking under Title 97, Chapter 25, Section 55 of the Mississippi Code, but in 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana, that the death penalty is unconstitutional when applied to non-homicidal crimes against the person. However, the ruling meant that crimes "against the state" such as treason or terrorism would not likely be unconstitutional. Therefore, the offence of aircraft hijacking would likely be considered a crime against the state in Mississippi because it is widely considered to be an act of terrorism and the death penalty in this case may be constitutional.
Death row and executions
Men on death row are held at Unit 29 in The Mississippi State Penitentiary, while women on death row are held at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) in Rankin County, Mississippi.
The method of execution is lethal injection. Executions take place in the execution chamber, built in 2002, adjacent to the gas chamber, which is no longer in use, but continues to sit there to this day.
Currently executions occur at the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP, also known as "Parchman") in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The condemned prisoner is moved into a holding cell adjacent to the execution room in Unit 17, the location of the execution chamber, in the MSP from his or her death row unit 48 hours prior to the execution. The state places MSP on emergency lockdown status 24 hours before the execution. At 12:00 PM a media center at MSP opens. At 3:00 PM the condemned's attorney of record and chaplain are permitted to visit him or her. At 4:00 PM the prisoner receive his or her last meal; he or she may shower at that time. At 4:30 PM, if the condemned desires, MDOC clergy may visit him or her. At 5:30 witnesses to the execution are transported to Unit 17. At 6:00 PM officials move the condemned from the holding cell to the execution chamber. At the same time the witnesses enter the designated observation areas and the execution by lethal injection is then carried out thereafter. At 7:00 PM the state conducts a post-execution briefing with media witnesses. At 8:30 PM the state closes its media center.
Early history
The State of Mississippi used hanging as its method of execution for much of its history. From the earliest recorded execution in 1818 to 2004, records indicate that the state executed a total of 794 people. Of these, the great majority were black males, who account for 639 of recorded executions.