On January 17, 1977, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the United States after the reinstatement of the death penalty in the 1970s. He was executed by firing squad in Utah, after choosing execution over further appeals. The case drew national attention, renewed debates about capital punishment, and questions about due process, victims’ rights, and state power. Gilmore’s real-life story inspired the novel “The Executioner’s Song” by Norman Mailer. His execution symbolized the resumption of state executions in an era of legal and moral controversy.
