Alaska

As a state, Alaska has never had a death penalty. The Territorial Legislature abolished capital punishment two years before Alaska gained statehood. The 1957 abolition measure stated simply: “The death penalty is and shall hereafter be abolished as punishment in Alaska for the commission of any crime.”

Prior to 1899, miners' courts handled legal matters in Alaska. Seven people are estimated to have been executed under that system. There were only eight legal executions in Alaska between 1900 and 1957. Records before 1900 are poor, but it is believed that a total of seven persons were hanged in territorial Alaska from 1869 to 1900.

Alaska Fact Sheet

For more information and ways to get involved, contact your state's organizations:

Alaska Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Alaska Conference of Catholic Bishops is the voice of the Roman Catholic in Alaska on public issues related to the moral and social teaching of the Church.

Alaskans Against the Death Penalty

Alaskans Against the Death Penalty is a coalition of individuals and organizations who educate the community and public about the facts and myths of the death penalty. Territorial Alaska abolished the death penalty in 1957; statehood continued the tradition. Many in Alaska are proud to live in a state free of the death penalty.

More Information at Death Penalty Center