NCJ Number
164076
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1996) Pages: 491- 516
Date Published
1996
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Capital executions of United States soldiers are examined using data on 18 military executions that took place in England from 1943-45.
Abstract
Data came from the executed soldiers' trial transcript files in the National Archives. The research focused on the crimes, defendants, victims, and details of the executions and the burials that followed. Results revealed eight of the crimes were murders, six were rapes, and four were murder/rapes. Black soldiers represented 50 percent of the soldiers executed for murder, 83 percent for rape, and 25 percent for murder/rape. No white soldiers were executed for rape. Sixty-one percent of the victims were females; 94 percent were white. Seventy-eight percent of the victims were civilian; 22 percent were military. Findings indicated that the executions were ignominious and well-organized mechanical rituals performed by soldiers who overall experienced only one execution. The executions became increasingly truncated events as the military became more familiar with them. After the current United States Supreme Court decides the constitutionality of this punishment in Loving v. U.S., 94-1996, executions may resume after an absence of 35 years. Tables, notes, and 84 references (Author abstract modified)