when did the state of texas reinstate the death penalty
Capital punishment in Texas The Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 once again allowed for the death penalty to be imposed. (A Texas case was a companion case in the Gregg decision and was upheld by the Court; the Court stated that Texas' death penalty scheme could potentially result in fewer death penalty cases, an irony given that post-Gregg Texas has by far executed more inmates than any other state.) However, the first execution in Texas after this decision would not take place until December 7, 1982 with that of Charles Brooks, Jr.. Brooks was also the first person to be judicially executed by lethal injection in the world, and the first African American to be executed in the United States since 1967.
Capital punishment in California California voters reinstated the death penalty a few months later, with Proposition 17 legalizing the death penalty in the state constitution and superseding the Anderson ruling. Since then, hundreds of death sentences have been handed down, but only 13 executions have been carried out, the last one in 2006.