The U.S. Military has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion of a ser­vice mem­ber for 50 years. Of the 11 mil­i­tary death sen­tences that have com­plet­ed direct appeal, 9 (82%) have been reversed. On August 22, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals over­turned the death sen­tence of for­mer Lance Corporal Kenneth G. Parker, the only Marine on the mil­i­tary’s death row. The court also over­turned one of Parker’s two mur­der con­vic­tions after find­ing that his guilt was not proven beyond a rea­son­able doubt. Judge J.A. Maksym, while con­demn­ing Parker’s actions, said, ​“We have upset aspects of this ver­dict and will set aside the death penal­ty due to numer­ous and sub­stan­tive pro­ce­dur­al and legal fail­ures at tri­al.” Parker is now fac­ing a life sen­tence with­out parole at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Parker’s co-defen­dant, Wade Walker, had also been sen­tenced to death but had his sen­tence reduced to life ear­li­er. Since 1984, 11 out of 16 mil­i­tary death sen­tences have been over­turned. The last mil­i­tary exe­cu­tion occurred in 1961.

(M. Doyle, ​“Marine’s death sen­tence over­turned on appeal,” McClatchy Newspapers in the Kansas City Star, August 23, 2012). See U.S. Military.

Citation Guide