Death penalty

"It may be the last friendly face I ever see. I must admit, at the moment I sorely regret helping reinstate the death penalty on Riosa."

- Ransom Casterfo, to Leia Organa

Death penalty, or execution, was the practice of imposing the punishment of death for people convicted of certain serious crimes. Worlds with the death penalty usually counted treason as a capital offense.

In the early days of the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Prosset Dibs was found guilty of treason for attempting to murder fellow Jedi Master Mace Windu during a Mission to Hissrich. Dibs, who had come to regard the Jedi as tyrants, expected his punishment to be death, but he was instead sentenced to rehabilitation at Windu's request.

Later during the war, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano was expelled from the Jedi Order and tried by a Republic court on charges of murder and treason. The prosecutor, Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin vowed to ensure Tano's conviction and advocated the death penalty for the former Jedi, much to the latter's shock. Ultimately, the real traitor, Barriss Offee, was exposed before the court could render its decision on Tano. The young Togruta was released from Republic custody, but chose to reject the Jedi Order's offer to rejoin their ranks, as they had not stood by her during the trial.

In the third year of the war, the Jedi Master Quinlan Vos fell to the dark side of the Force after being sent to assassinate Separatist leader Count Dooku. Faking reform, he returned to the Jedi Order and committed treasonous acts. As the Jedi Council discussed his proposed punishment, Mace Windu floated the possibility of execution, which would have been an unprecedented step in the history of the Jedi Order. The possibility was seriously considered, but ultimately rejected, largely thanks to the arguments of Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, after a second betrayal, execution was considered all but certain, but ultimately events conspired to allow Vos to reform.

In 28 ABY, Senator Ransolm Casterfo lent his support to a campaign to reinstate the death penalty on his homeworld of Riosa. At the time, more Centrist star systems were leaning toward it. Ironically, Casterfo ended up facing capital punishment after he was framed for the assassination of Tai-Lin Garr.

Execution was the proscribed punishment for traitors within the ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps of the First Order. This task was carried out by those within the position of First Order stormtrooper executioner. These specialized stormtroopers were rotated via random duty shifts, rather than being a position held by any single group of individuals. As such, any stormtrooper could be assigned this duty, but it was never known who, as assignments were kept anonymous. Finn, a First Order defector once known as FN-2187, dreaded this task and spent his shifts on it fervently hoping the day would end without him having to perform any executions. His own defection later caused him and Rose Tico to end up facing this fate, but the two were saved when the Resistance flagship Raddus crashed into the Supremacy, instantly killing their executioners.

Appearances

 * Dark Disciple
 * Bloodline
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition
 * Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel