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State And Federal Info

Wisconsin

Famous Cases

The last person executed in Wisconsin was John McCaffary. One night in June of 1850, McCaffary’s neighbors awoke to the sound of a woman screaming, loud enough that they rushed to the source of the sound. They found Brigid McCaffary, wife of John McCaffary, drowned in a barrel on the McCaffary property. McCaffary was immediately arrested, and his trial began in May of 1851. After ten days of trial proceedings, the jury delivered the verdict “Guilty of Willful Murder,” and the judge delivered the first and only death sentence under the authority of the newly formed State of Wisconsin. On the scheduled day of execution approximately 3,000 spectators traveled from the countryside into the city of Kenosha to watch the hanging. Reporters’ accounts of the hanging claim that after McCaffary was hoisted into the air by the neck, he struggled for roughly five minutes, after which doctors were called upon to examine his pulse. Another fifteen minutes later McCaffary was finally declared dead. This gruesome execution contributed to Wisconsin’s abolition of the death penalty two years later.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

On July 10, 1853, the Death Penalty Repeal Act was signed in to law, making Wisconsin the first state to permanently abolish the death penalty for all crimes (Rhode Island temporarily abolished the death penalty in 1852 but later reinstated it, and Michigan abolished the death penalty for all crimes except treason in 1847).

The most prominent push for reinstatement of the death penalty in Wisconsin came in the early 1990’s after the full scope of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes became public knowledge. Stories of brutal murder, dismemberment, necrophilia, and cannibalism outraged the public, and some state politicians began calling for the return of capital punishment. However, Dahmer’s 1994 death in prison, combined with rapidly declining murder rates in the state, eased the pressure to reinstate the death penalty. Although 22 bills for reinstatement were introduced in the state legislature between 1991 and 1996, none were able to make it through legislative committees.

Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison.  Photo by marykane, via photobucket.
Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison. Photo by marykane, via photobucket.

Resources

  • Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty
  • Department of Corrections
  • Public defender’s office
  • Victims’ services

News & Developments


History of the Death Penalty

Oct 16, 2014

NEW RESOURCES: Podcast Series on Each State’s Death Penalty

DPIC has recent­ly added four pod­casts to our new series on impor­tant facts about the death penal­ty in each state. Seven state pod­casts are now avail­able: Michigan, 

NEW RESOURCES: Podcast Series on Each State's Death Penalty

History of the Death Penalty

Aug 29, 2014

NEW RESOURCES: Podcasts on Individual States

DPIC is begin­ning a new series of pod­casts based on the his­to­ry of the death penal­ty in each state. The series will first present the states that have end­ed the death penal­ty. Three pod­casts, fea­tur­ing Michigan

NEW RESOURCES: Podcasts on Individual States

History of the Death Penalty

Aug 11, 2011

NEW RESOURCES: Five New States Added to State Information Pages

DPIC is pleased to announce the addi­tion of five more states to one of our lat­est resources, the State Information Pages. Adding to the orig­i­nal 15 state pages made avail­able ear­li­er, pages for 

NEW RESOURCES: Five New States Added to State Information Pages

Dec 01, 2007

Wisconsin Legislation Prior to 2007

Author of Wisconsin Death Penalty Referendum Says Law Has No Chance of Passing Sen. Al Lasee (R‑DePere) of Wisconsin was the author of leg­is­la­tion that placed a non-bind­ing ref­er­en­dum on the death penal­ty on the state’s ballo…

Religion

Oct 15, 2006

Religious Leaders of Wisconsin Issue Statement on Death Penalty

A broad spec­trum of reli­gious lead­ers from Wisconsin issued a joint state­ment regard­ing their views on the death penal­ty on October 14. The state­ment fol­lows: ​‘Simply put, we can­not sup­port the death penal­ty’ Posted: Oct. …

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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): 1
  • 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: N/A
  • Date of Abolition: 1853
  • Location of Death Row/Executions: N/A
  • Capital: Madison
  • Population: 5,893,718*
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000 population): 3.01
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: N/A
  • Clemency Process: N/A
  • Governor: Tony Evers

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