I believe once upon a time it was considered to snuff out those committing treason, desertion, and spies from foreign countries.

So, this USA civilian guy working for the US Navy was selling nuclear submarine drawings & information to what he thought was a foreign govt. Instead, it was the FBI that he was selling to. Transpired over a couple of years time.

I'm not sure there's much chance for them to be innocent so why not go ahead & put them out of our misery? I think the last guy we tried & sent to prison over this kind of deal ended up getting a taxpayer financed "sex delete" operation & then released from jail. That just doesn't seem right. The Gary Gilmore ending seems more appropriate.

Here's story on Fox website:

https://www.foxnews.com/us/navy-nuclear-engineer-charged-with-trying-to-pass-secrets