death sentence

noun

1. a sentence condemning a convicted felon to execution by the state.

Example Sentences

Prostate cancer is not a death sentence these days, but it’s also not something you put off.

From Los Angeles Times

She said learning the news felt like a “death sentence”.

From BBC

Manson died in 2017 while serving a commuted death sentence for masterminding an infamous spate of murders in Los Angeles in 1969.

From Los Angeles Times

He noted that “In Illinois last year we had about 1,000 murders, only 2 percent of that 1,000 were sentenced to death. Where is the fairness and equality in that? The death penalty in Illinois is not imposed fairly or uniformly because of the absence of standards for the 102 Illinois State Attorneys, who must decide whether to request the death sentence.”

From Slate

“Should geography,” Ryan asked, “be a factor in determining who gets the death sentence? I don’t think so but in Illinois it makes a difference. You are 5 times more likely to get a death sentence for first degree murder in the rural area of Illinois than you are in Cook County. Where is the justice and fairness in that? Where is the proportionality?”

From Slate

Related Words

• capital punishment