GMR: Should Marxists support the death penalty?

 
BY: Communist Party USA| October 11, 2026
GMR: Should Marxists support the death penalty?

 

First, Tennessee botched the attempted execution of Christa Pike. Then, the Pentagon announced that Nidal Malik Hasan’s pending execution will be live-streamed Dec. 3. This would be the first public execution since 1936, when Rainey Bethea, a 22-year-old African American man, was hanged before a crowd of 20,000 in Kentucky. Today, more than 2,000 inmates are on death row around the country, about 500 of them in California alone.

What position should the communist movement be taking on capital punishment? Does it vary from country to country or by time and place? Should Marxists take one position under capitalism and another under socialism?

Join the discussion with Communist Party USA Co-Chair Joe Sims, Organizational Secretary Anita Waters, and National Board members Eric Brooks and Cameron Harrison.

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    The Communist Party USA is a revolutionary working-class political party founded in 1919 in Chicago, IL. The Communist Party stands for the interests of the American working class and the American people. It stands for our interests in both the present and the future. Solidarity with workers of other countries is also part of our work. We work in coalition with the labor movement, the peace movement, the student movement, organizations fighting for equality and social justice, the environmental movement, immigrants rights groups and the health care for all campaign. But to win a better life for working families, we believe that we must go further. We believe that the American people can replace capitalism with a system that puts people before profit — socialism. We are rooted in our country's revolutionary history and its struggles for democracy. We call for "Bill of Rights" socialism, guaranteeing full individual freedoms.

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