Capital punishment in Alabama is a legal penalty. Alabama has the highest per capita capital sentencing rate in the United States. In some years, its courts have imposed more death sentences than Texas, a state that has a population five times as large. However, Texas has a higher rate of executions both in absolute terms and per capita.
Legal process When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and at least 10 jurors must concur.
In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a retrial happens before another jury.
In 2023, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that, when a condemned person appeals, the appellate court does not have to actively look for errors in the original judgment and only has to consider constitutional violations if the objection was already raised at trial. Previously, through 2022, appellate courts had been required to search for errors in the original judgment and to consider any constitutional violations that may have occurred at trial, regardless of whether the trial lawyer had objected.
For cases prior to 2017, the sole determinant of the sentence was the sentencing judge who had the authority to override the jury's recommendation provided it was given appropriate weight. Prospectively, from 2017, the judge must abide by the verdict of the jury. The law is not retroactive. A report in May 2024 revealed that Alabama had 30 condemned prisoners who were still facing death sentences received due to judicial override prior to its abolition.
All executions occur at Holman Correctional Facility, and most men who have been sentenced to death are incarcerated there. In the 20th century, Holman's death row had a capacity of only 20, but in 2000, the segregation unit was expanded to add 200 single cells. Men who are required to stay in the Birmingham judicial district are housed at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, which has a death row capacity of 24. Women who have been sentenced to death are housed at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women.
The power of clemency belongs to the Governor of Alabama.
The state's current primary method of execution is lethal injection, unless the condemned requests electrocution or nitrogen hypoxia. If the selected method (whether chosen by the offender or by default) is found unconstitutional, state statutes provide for the use of "any constitutional method of execution", which would likely include hanging, the gas chamber or firing squad.
Alabama was the next-to-last state (only aside from Nebraska) to give death row inmates the option to die by lethal injection; from 1927 to 2002, all executions were mandated to be carried out by electrocution via electric chair. In 2002, the old death chamber was renovated to accommodate a lethal injection gurney, although it was designed to accommodate executions by electrocution upon an inmate's request. The state's electric chair (nicknamed "Yellow Mama" due to sporting a coat of yellow highway paint) is currently stored in a closet above the death chamber. Alabama's final execution by electrocution was that of Lynda Lyon Block on May 10, 2002; the first lethal injection was that of Anthony Keith Johnson on December 12, 2002.
In February 2023, following a review of failed lethal injections, Governor Kay Ivey said executions would resume. The first occurred on July 21, 2023.
Capital crimes The following kinds of murder are punishable by death in Alabama:Code of Alabama § 13A-5-49 Murder by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant. Murder by the defendant during a robbery in the first degree. There is no attempted robbery in Alabama because it's a crime against the person and not the property. In most cases an attempted statute is Ala. Code § 13A-4-2 and decreases the crime one degree. Murder by the defendant during a rape in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant; or murder by the defendant during sodomy in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant. Murder by the defendant during a burglary in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant. Murder of any police officer, sheriff, deputy, state trooper, federal law enforcement officer, or any other state or federal peace officer of any kind, or prison or jail guard, while such officer or guard is on duty, regardless of whether the defendant knew or should have known the victim was an officer or guard on duty, or because of some official or job-related act or performance of such officer or guard. Murder committed while the defendant is under a sentence of life imprisonment. Murder done for a pecuniary or other valuable consideration or pursuant to a contract or for hire. Murder committed during sexual abuse in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant. Murder committed during arson in the first or second degree committed by the defendant; or murder by the defendant by means of explosives or explosion. Murder wherein two or more persons are murdered by the defendant by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct. Murder committed when the victim is a state or federal public official or former public official and the murder stems from or is caused by or is related to his official position, act, or capacity. Murder committed during the act of unlawfully assuming control of any aircraft by use of threats or force with intent to obtain any valuable consideration for the release of said aircraft or any passenger or crewmen thereon or to direct the route or movement of said aircraft, or otherwise exert control over said aircraft. Murder committed by an offender convicted of any other murder in the 20 years preceding the crime which constitutes the capital crime under Alabama law at the time. Murder is related to the capacity or role of the victim as a witness. Murder of a victim less than 14 years of age. Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon fired or otherwise used from outside a dwelling while the victim is in a dwelling. Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle. Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon fired or otherwise used within or from a vehicle. Murder by the defendant where a court had issued a protective order for the victim against the defendant.
History Between 1812 and 1965, 708 people were executed in Alabama. Until 1927, hanging was the primary method of execution, although one person was put to death by firing squad.
In addition to murder, capital crimes in Alabama formerly included rape, arson, and robbery. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, 31 persons were executed by the state for crimes other than murder – including rape, robbery, and burglary – between 1927 and 1959. In Kennedy v. Louisiana,Kennedy v. Louisiana 554 U.S. 407 (2008) the U.S. Supreme Court has essentially eliminated the death penalty for any crime at the state level except murder.
The 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia, requiring a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty, established a de facto moratorium on capital punishment across the United States. That moratorium remained until July 2, 1976, when Gregg v. Georgia decided how states could impose death sentences without violating the Eighth Amendment's ban against cruel and unusual punishment. Alabama passed legislation reinstating the use of the death penalty on March 25, 1976, when Alabama's legislature passed, and Governor George Wallace signed, a new death penalty statute. No execution under this law was carried out until 1983.
From 1983 to , Alabama has executed 84 people. , Alabama had 153 inmates on death row, the 4th highest number in the US.
Since 1976, only three death row inmates have been granted clemency and had their death sentences commuted to life: first, outgoing Governor Fob James commuted Judith Ann Neelley's death sentence to life in prison in January 1999. The second was in February 2025, when Robin Dion Myers, who was convicted of the 1991 murder of Ludie Mae Tucker, had his death sentence commuted to life without parole by Governor Kay Ivey after the Alabama Supreme Court authorized the setting of an execution date by nitrogen asphyxiation. Ivey expressed that she made her decision to commute the sentence based on her own doubts regarding Myers' guilt, as well as the fact that Myers' jury had unanimously recommended life imprisonment, while his trial judge overrode the recommendation and instituted a death sentence anyway. The third was Charles Lee Burton in 2026, who was convicted of the 1991 murder of Doug Battle. Governor Kay Ivey commuted his death sentence to life without parole on March 10, 2026, two days before his scheduled execution, due to Ivey's concerns regarding Burton's role in the crime for which he was condemned to die; Burton was the ringleader of the robbery that resulted in victim Doug Battle's murder, but he was not in the store at the time Battle was shot to death. The triggerman, Derrick DeBruce, had his own death sentence commuted to life without parole. Additionally, Battle's daughter wrote to Governor Ivey requesting mercy for Burton, and Burton expressed remorse for his role in the robbery and Battle's murder.
21st-century developments In 2016, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd ruled that the Alabama capital murder provision allowing judges to issue the death penalty by overriding jury recommendations for life without parole to be unconstitutional."JeffCo judge: Alabama death penalty sentence scheme unconstitutional" by Kent Faulk, Birmingham Real-Time News, March 9, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2021. In 2020, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary charged Todd with an ethics complaint lodged by the Judicial Inquiry Commission,"Jefferson County Judge Tracie Todd presents defense in ethics trial" by Mike Cason, Birmingham Real-Time News, December 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021. which accused the Birmingham judge of using her position to oppose and override the state death penalty."Ethics trial on hold for Birmingham judge who ruled Alabama death penalty law unconstitutional" by Mike Cason, Birmingham Real-Time News, November 16, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021. Todd was suspended without pay for 90 days and then permitted to return to her duties as a judge.Jefferson County Judge Tracie Todd suspended without pay for ethics violations Mike Cason, al.com, December 3, 2021
In February 2018, Alabama carried out the botched attempted execution of Doyle Hamm. During the execution attempt, executioners attempted for nearly three hours to insert an IV that could be used to administer the lethal injection drugs. In the process, the execution team punctured Hamm's bladder and femoral artery, causing significant bleeding.
On September 22, 2022, Alabama planned to execute Alan Eugene Miller but canceled the execution after failing to find a suitable vein. On November 17, 2022, Alabama similarly was unable to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith because the state corrections staff were unable to find a suitable vein. Following several botched executions, Governor Kay Ivey paused all executions until July 2023. Smith's execution was rescheduled and carried out on January 25, 2024; it was the nation's first use of nitrogen gas as an execution method. Smith had requested this method.