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Year of Abolition
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1965 |
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History
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1834-1965: hanging |
46 people were executed in Iowa between 1834 and 1965. Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1872. The abolition did not last long however, as a national economic depression and a wave of crime swept over Iowa in the years shortly after. Mobs began taking what they saw as justice into their own hands, lynching several accused or convicted defendants in the six years after abolition. In response, the legislature reinstated the death penalty in 1878.