Main articles: Mormonism and violence and blood atonement
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) presently takes no position on capital punishment, but until the mid-20th century there was a controversial doctrine called blood atonement, holding that the blood of Jesus' Atonement does not remit certain serious sins, and the only way that a Mormon sinner could pay for them would be to have their blood spilled on the ground as an atonement. There is no direct evidence that this doctrine was ever officially practiced by clergy in their official capacity, although the doctrine was blamed for a number of killings in the Utah Territory, and was made famous because of the Mountain Meadows massacre. The doctrine is cited as a reason why, until recently, Utah gave convicted first-degree murderers a choice to be executed by firing squad rather than other methods such as hanging.