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State And Federal Info

Vermont

Famous Cases

Robert Drew, a Vermont native, was executed in Texas on August 2, 1994. Drew maintained his innocence, but was denied a hearing on new evidence. Prominent Vermonters, including then-Governor Howard Dean, Representative Bernard Sanders, and Catholic Bishop Kenneth Angell asked Texas Governor Ann Richards for clemency for Drew.

Notable Exonerations

In 1819, two brothers in Manchester were sentenced to death for the alleged murder of their brother-in-law. The brothers were spared at the last moment, however, when the supposed “dead” man showed up in town.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

In 1838, Vermont’s legislature defeated an abolition bill by only three votes. If the bill had passed, it would have made Vermont the first state to abolish the death penalty.

The Vermont legislature took no action to reintroduce capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all existing death-penalty laws in Furman v. Georgia in 1972, ending the death penalty in the state.

Green Mountains, by mmmaria_photos via photobucket.
Green Mountains, by mmmaria_​photos via photobucket.

Resources

  • ACLU of Vermont
  • Department of Corrections
  • State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs’ Association
  • Public defender’s office
  • Victims’ services

News & Developments


Arbitrariness

Sep 28, 2018

Judge Approves Plea Deal in Case That Challenged the Constitutionality of the Federal Death Penalty

A fed­er­al judge in Vermont has accept­ed a plea deal between Donald Fell and fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors, per­ma­nent­ly remov­ing Fell from death row and end­ing a case that had raised seri­ous ques­tions about the constitutiona…

Judge Approves Plea Deal in Case That Challenged the Constitutionality of the Federal Death Penalty

Arbitrariness

Dec 14, 2016

Judge Finds Federal Death Penalty Arbitrary and Unreliable, But Leaves Constitutionality for Supreme Court to Decide

After a two-week long ​“exten­sive hear­ing regard­ing the unre­li­a­bil­i­ty and arbi­trari­ness of the death penal­ty sys­tem, the exces­sive delay involved in exe­cu­tions, and the grow­ing decline in the use of the death penal­ty,” U.S. District Court Judge 

Judge Finds Federal Death Penalty Arbitrary and Unreliable, But Leaves Constitutionality for Supreme Court to Decide

Deterrence

Jul 15, 2016

Court Hearing Under Way on Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty

A court hear­ing is under way in the cap­i­tal tri­al of Donald Fell in a Vermont fed­er­al dis­trict court chal­leng­ing the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the fed­er­al death penal­ty. This week, death penal­ty experts tes­ti­fied for t…

Court Hearing Under Way on Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty

Arbitrariness

Feb 12, 2016

Judge Orders Evidentiary Hearing On Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty

U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford has ordered an evi­den­tiary hear­ing on Donald Fell’s (pic­tured) chal­lenge to the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the fed­er­al death penal­ty. In court fil­ings seek­ing to bar fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors from s…

Judge Orders Evidentiary Hearing On Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty

Arbitrariness

Nov 30, 2015

Defendants Begin Systemic Challenges to Constitutionality of Death Penalty

Lawyers for cap­i­tal defen­dants and death row inmates across the coun­try have begun to respond to what lawyers in one fed­er­al case described as the ​“clar­i­on call for recon­sid­er­a­tion of the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the death penal­ty” issued by Supreme C…

Defendants Begin Systemic Challenges to Constitutionality of Death Penalty

Innocence

Feb 04, 2011

Sen. Leahy Introduces Bill to Reauthorize Justice for All Act

On February 1, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D‑Vermont) intro­duced leg­is­la­tion (S. 250) that would reau­tho­rize the Justice for All Act. The Act, first passed in 2004, pro­vid­ed impor­tant tools and assist…

Sen. Leahy Introduces Bill to Reauthorize Justice for All Act

Deterrence

Jan 01, 2011

RESOURCES: New FBI Report Shows U.S. Murder Rate Unchanged Over 5 Years

The FBI recent­ly released the lat­est ver­sion of its Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States 2005. The report showed that the mur­der rate in 2005 (5.6 mur­ders per 100,000 peo­ple) was the same as in 2001, with lit­tle change in the i…

Juveniles

Oct 13, 2004

Too young to die?

Battleboro (Vermont) ReformerOctober 13, 2004Too young to die? One night in 1993, Shirley Crook was awak­ened by 2 bur­glars in her Missouri home. She was bound …

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View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: No
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 0
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): 26
  • Current Death Row Population: 0
  • Women on Death Row: 0
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 0
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 0
  • Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): N/A
  • Date of Abolition: 1972
  • Location of Death Row/Executions: N/A
  • Capital: Montpelier
  • Region: Northeast
  • Population: 643,077*
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000 population): 1.76
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: N/A
  • Clemency Process: N/A
  • Governor: Phil Scott

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