China is reportedly one of the most prolific capital punishment practitioners[citation needed], although the actual number of executions is a state secret and can only be roughly estimated.
[3] China employs methods such as firing squads, lethal injections, and mobile death vans that have resulted in thousands of executions every year[citation needed].
[10] The meaning of "capital murder" under the 1964 act was elucidated by the Supreme Court in the 1977 case of Noel and Marie Murray, convicted by the Special Criminal Court (SCC) of capital murder after the 1975 shooting of a Garda, who was off duty and not in uniform, giving chase after they had robbed a bank.
All sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by President Patrick Hillery on the advice of the Government; of these, Peter Pringle's conviction was overturned in 1995 as unsafe.
The seven states that use the term "capital murder" are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Texas.
In some, first-degree murder is a very broad term defined by a number of circumstances, only a few of which make a defendant eligible for execution.
In other jurisdictions, an offense carrying the death penalty is strictly defined and is separate from other, similar crimes.
The United States Supreme Court has placed limitations on the use of the death penalty and has prohibited its use in cases where the offender is mentally incompetent,[23] or was under the age of 18 at the time of the offense.