Michigan

History of Death Penalty

Only 13 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in Michigan’s his­to­ry, just 6 of which occurred after Michigan offi­cial­ly became a ter­ri­to­ry in 1805. The only exe­cu­tion car­ried out in Michigan after it gained state­hood was the fed­er­al exe­cu­tion (out­side state juris­dic­tion) of Anthony Chebatoris in 1938. The death penal­ty has been con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly banned in Michigan since 1963.

Famous Cases

In 1828, Patrick Fitzpatrick was hanged after being declared guilty for the rape and mur­der of an innkeep­er’s daugh­ter. In 1835, Fitzpatrick’s for­mer room­mate con­fessed to the mur­der on his deathbed, prov­ing that Fitzpatrick had been exe­cut­ed for a mur­der in which he was innocent.

Other Interesting Facts

Michigan became the first English-speak­ing ter­ri­to­ry in the world to abol­ish cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in 1847. Treason remained a crime pun­ish­able by the death penal­ty in Michigan despite the 1847 abo­li­tion, but no one was ever exe­cut­ed under that law. In 1962 a con­sti­tu­tion­al con­ven­tion passed a pro­pos­al to abol­ish the death penal­ty for all crimes in Michigan by a 108 to 3 vote.

Resources

• Department of Corrections
• ACLU Michigan
• Prosecutors
• Public defend­er’s office
• Victims’ ser­vices