# Death Penalty for least heinous crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308 "2001-08-21T06:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/21 "2001-08-21T19:54:11Z")
People have been executed for pretty much everything. I seem to remember that one could suffer the death penalty for wearing purple, when purple was the sole priviledge of royalty. Also, people have often been executed (in Stalinist Russia, for example) for the crime of being related to someone whom the state deemed undesirable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/22 "2001-08-22T17:09:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Enderw24, felony murder can get even more interesting. If you are robbing a bank with a gun, and one of the customers has a heart attack and dies during your robbery… I know someone who was actually convicted in an incident like this. Except in his case it was a house burglary and the homeowner was the one with the gun. But when he suffered a fatal heart attack a hour later, the burglar was convicted of felony homicide (although he was imprisoned not executed). Another unusual application of this law is when a criminal is killed by the police during a crime. Any of his surviving partners can then be convicted of causing his death. ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/23 "2001-08-22T17:17:45Z")
i’m not so sure about the US but i know a few things about the rest of the world and some history : UK - Treason (the only UK crime that you can be sent to the hang man for) - theft UK 1800s hanging Saudi arabia - selling alcohol beheading Spain - destroying the money since it has the spanish Kings image/royal seal on it and it is considered treason ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/24 "2001-08-22T17:35:18Z")
Buggery? No, that would be the **most** hiney-ous of crimes. :rolleyes: Sofa King, that should be a pretty obvious UL to the most casual observer. Kind of makes it hard for a cowboy to repair fences if he doesn’t have a pair of [fence pliers](http://www.kenyontools.com/products/forks/74-100.htm). Running irons may be a different matter. Legitimate branding irons will be made in the specific shape of a registered brand but a running iron only has nefarious uses. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/25 "2001-08-22T18:08:17Z")
Obviously absolute rulers throughout history have had people killed on arbitrary whims. Presumably the focus of this question is on executions carried out under the terms of codified law. Under the rule of law there is certainly also much room for abuse in the interpretation/application of the law. While the US Constitution defines treason “specifically”, there is an awful lot of wiggle room in “…adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort”. It certainly seems at odds on its face with the 1st Amendment of the Bill of rights, even before the issue of whether “enemy of the United States” can be precisely defined. I would consider a recent convictions under Pakistan’s Taliban-ish blasphemy laws to be rather off-the-wall. Apparently the condemned had suggested that, before he received the word of God, Mohammed might have consumed pork and committed other acts which were subsequently banned under Islamic law. It seems to me quite a stretch to class such “chicken-or-egg” speculation as blasphemy, even if you accept blasphemy as a proper hangin’ (or perhaps stonin’) offense. I’m not sure, however, how many executions have actually occurred under this law. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/26 "2001-08-22T20:03:57Z")
A few years back a friend of mine found a 1972 vintage paperback book about marijuana in a used bood store. In it were the current drug laws in each US State. In Texas in 1972 the punishment for a second offense of selling pot to a minor was death. I highly doubt that anyone was ever sentenced under that law though. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/27 "2001-08-23T20:01:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*A few years back a friend of mine found a 1972 vintage paperback book about marijuana in a used bood store. In it were the current drug laws in each US State. In Texas in 1972 the punishment for a second offense of selling pot to a minor was death. I highly doubt that anyone was ever sentenced under that law though. > > Haj \*\* is the book called A Child’s Garden Of Grass? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/28 "2001-08-23T23:07:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Horse stealing would be another “good” guess, problem being that in the past it was next to impossible to lock _anything_ up, so thieves were not well tolerated. It may seem simple or trite today, but a stolen horse was serious business in that time period. This is very true. Not only were horses used for transportation, but in alot of cases they were an important part of a person’s way of life. If a farmer had his horse stolen, how was he supposed to plow his fields or get his crops into town? How could a cowboy or a rancher possibly do his job without a horse? Horse theft was much more serious than car theft; in alot of cases the horse thief was taking the person’s job as well. When you think about it like that, you can see why thieves were usually treated quite harshly in the old days. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308/29 "2001-08-24T12:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by geepee \* > \*\*i’m not so sure about the US but i know a few things about the rest of the world and some history : > > UK - Treason (the only UK crime that you can be sent to the hang man for)\*\* Not according to [this site](http://host001.stm.it/colosseo/uk/rapporto.html): > [@](#): > > UNITED KINGDOM - abolitionist > The provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished the death penalty for the civilian crimes for which it remained on the statute books, and the Human Rights Act 1998 replaced the death penalty with a life sentence in Armed Forces legislation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-for-least-heinous-crime/77308.md?page=1)