The death penalty was declared unconstitutional in the early 70s by the U.S. Supreme Court. I forget the year, but it coincided with the Manson trial/conviction although it was not related to it. I may be off by a year or two.
It was declared Constitutional a few years later, and the first person executed was Gary Gilmore in Utah around 1977-8.
The Supreme Court, in its 1972 ruling, did not say the death penalty itself was unconstitutional. They ruled that the penalty, as administered under state laws, was "arbitrary and capricious," agreeing with a NAACP contention that blacks were sentenced to death far more often than whites. The Court was careful to say that the states could revise or correct their death penalty statutes and resume executions, which is what happened starting in '78. Fuller details here:
http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/death/history.htmlI have never been convinced that Sam Giancana swung Illinois votes for Kennedy in 1960. He hated both Kennedys. JFK was a member of the McClellan Rackets Committee, which heard evidence of rackets and labor crimes in 1957-59. Bobby Kennedy was its chief counsel. While interrogating Giancana, Bobby pointedly chided him for giggling and said, "I thought only little girls giggled." Seem like the kind of remark that would induce Momo to put money and votes behind JFK in '60? Bobby also went after Jimmy Hoffa, Momo's big ally; the Teamsters supported Nixon in '60. And in any event, JFK had Mayor Daly--the state's most powerful Democrat--behind him. Daly delivered Illinois through the time-tested technique of having voters vote early and often.
