3.7 United States of America Relevant International Instruments International Instruments Ratification Status ICCPR Ratified Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR Not signed American Convention on Human Rights Signed Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty Not signed Status: retentionist Legal Framework The death penalty is retained in 38 of the 50 states. Abolitionist states include Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.101 The crimes that carry the death penalty vary from state to state.102 Capital punishment is generally permitted for the crimes of murder or felony murder, and generally only when aggravating circumstances are present in the commission of the crime, e.g., if there are multiple victims, if a victim was raped, or if a murder was a contract killing. Capital punishment is permitted for some crimes other than murder, e.g., for sexually assaulting a child. Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida allow the death penalty as punishment for the sexual assault of a child. Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Montana allow the death penalty for individuals convicted of repeated sexual assaults 101  Although New York’s highest court held in 2004 that the state’s death-penalty statute violates the state constitution and is therefore invalid, the statute technically remains on the books, and the legislature may revise the law and thereby reinstate the death penalty. One inmate remains on death row in New York. Accordingly, New York is technically one of the 38 states in the United States in which the death penalty is permitted, while, at the same time, the death penalty is prohibited under state law, and executions cannot currently be carried out. 102  A complete list of capital crimes can be found at www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. 31