The death penalty—also known as capital punishment—refers to the process of state and federal courts sentencing persons convicted of the most serious criminal offenses (capital offenses or capital crimes) to death. The specific crimes and circumstances for which the death penalty is a potential punishment (usually murder) are defined by state and federal statutes enacted by state legislatures and the United States Congress, respectively.

These death penalty or capital punishment statutes are often located in the penal or criminal code, and often in the same statute that defines a criminal offense such as murder. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia do not have the death penalty as a potential punishment for any criminal offense.

In Virginia, the death penalty was historically a legal form of punishment for certain capital offenses, primarily murder under specific aggravating circumstances. However, as of March 2021, Virginia abolished the death penalty, becoming the first Southern state to do so. Prior to its abolition, the criteria for capital punishment were outlined in the Virginia Code, which detailed the specific circumstances under which the death penalty could be applied. These included factors such as the victim's age or occupation, the heinousness of the crime, and whether the crime was committed during another felony. With the repeal of the death penalty, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole became the maximum sentence for capital crimes in Virginia. The change reflects a significant shift in the state's approach to criminal justice and capital punishment.