Michigan Led The Way In Abolishing The Death Penalty

Can you believe Michigan was the first to ban the death penalty? This move sparked a wave of change across the nation.

Michigan has always been a state of innovation and trend-setting.  Michigan was the first state to have phone numbers, the first and only state that protects people from weight discrimination, and the first state to put fluoride in the drinking water system.

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Did you know 23 states, plus Washington, DC, currently have a legal ban on the Death Penalty, and it all started with Michigan?

• Alaska - Abolished the death penalty in 1957.
• Colorado - Abolished the death penalty in 2020.
• Connecticut - Abolished the death penalty in 2012.
• Delaware - Abolished the death penalty in 2016.
• Hawaii - Abolished the death penalty in 1957.
• Illinois - Abolished the death penalty in 2011.
• Iowa - Abolished the death penalty in 1965.
• Maine - Abolished the death penalty in 1887.
• Maryland - Abolished the death penalty in 2013.
• Massachusetts - Abolished the death penalty in 1984.
• Michigan - Abolished the death penalty in 1847.
• Minnesota - Abolished the death penalty in 1911.
• New Hampshire - Abolished the death penalty in 2019.
• New Jersey - Abolished the death penalty in 2007.
• New Mexico - Abolished the death penalty in 2009.
• New York - Abolished the death penalty in 2007.
• North Dakota - Abolished the death penalty in 1973.
• Rhode Island - Abolished the death penalty in 1984.
• Vermont - Abolished the death penalty in 1972.
• Virginia - Abolished the death penalty in 2021.
• Washington - Abolished the death penalty in 2023.
• West Virginia - Abolished the death penalty in 1965.
• Wisconsin - Abolished the death penalty in 1853.

There are also 4 states with a pause on the Death Penalty.

• California paused the death penalty in 2019.
• Ohio paused the death penalty in 2020.
• Oregon paused the death penalty in 2011.
• Pennsylvania paused the death penalty in 2015.

The information above was sourced from the Death Penalty Information Center.

After introducing legislation to abolish the death penalty in 1846, the great state of Michigan made it official in March of 1847, according to the State Bar of Michigan.

On March 1, 1847, after a decade of statehood, Michigan became the first government in the English-speaking world to outlaw capital punishment for murder and lesser crimes.

Michigan was years ahead of the rest of the United States; 22 additional states and Washington, D.C., eventually followed our lead.