| Statistics
are from the Bureau of Justice and are the official United States
statistics as compiled by the government. I've updated them in
December, 2007 using the Bureau's latest numbers published in December,
2007 which are compiled from data for the year 2006. |
| Executions
so far this year (2008) |
10 |
| Executions
last year (2007) |
42 |
| Executions
in 2006 |
53 |
| Executions
in 2005 |
60 |
| Executions
in 2004 |
59 |
|
Number
of states with DP
(AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CN, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA,
MD, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD,
TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY also the Federal Government and the Military) |
37 |
Number
of states without DP
(AK, HI, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, ND, NJ*, RI, VT, WV, WI also the
District of Columbia)
*In Dec. 2007, New Jersey ended its Death Penalty program in favor
of life in prison without parole. |
13 |
| |
| Approx.
number of Death Row inmates in US (about 15 less than
in 2005) |
3,230 |
| Approx.
number of Death Row inmates per state |
| AL |
190 |
KY |
40 |
OK |
85 |
| AZ |
110 |
LA |
85 |
OR |
30 |
| AR |
35 |
MD |
5 |
PA |
220 |
| CA |
655 |
MS |
70 |
SC |
60 |
| CO |
2 |
MO |
50 |
SD |
5 |
| CT |
5 |
MT |
2 |
TN |
100 |
| DE |
15
|
NE |
10 |
TX |
390 |
| FL |
375 |
NH |
0 |
UT |
10 |
| GA |
105 |
NV |
80 |
VA |
20 |
| ID |
20 |
NJ |
10 |
WA |
10 |
| IL |
10 |
NM |
2 |
WY |
2 |
| IN |
20 |
NY |
1 |
Feds |
40 |
| KS |
2 |
NC |
165 |
|
|
|
|
OH |
185 |
|
|
States
with the most DR inmates: California
(655), Texas (390) and Florida (375).
States with the fewest DR inmates: New
Hampshire has the Death Penalty but has (0) people on DR. Connecticut, Colorado,
Kansas, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, New York, South
Dakota
and Wyoming have 5 or fewer people on DR. |
| |
Approx.
number of people executed worldwide in 2006
(from
official records which vastly underreport the numbers) |
1,600 |
| Approx.
number of people sentenced to death worldwide in 2006 |
3,900
|
| Approx.
number of countries with Death Penalty laws |
75
|
| Approx.
number of countries executing prisoners in 2006 |
25
|
| Top
6 countries for most executions in 2006 |
| China |
over
1,000 |
| Iran |
175 |
| Pakistan |
80 |
| Iraq |
65 |
| Sudan |
65 |
| United
States |
50 |
|
Methods
of execution worldwide:
lethal
injection, beheading (in Saudia Arabia for instance), firing squad,
hanging, stoning (in Afghanistan for instance), electric chair
|
| Countries
which carried out executions in the year 2006: Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Botswana, China, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan,
North Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,
Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, United States, Vietnam and Yemen |
Country
you are most likely to be executed in
(most
executions per small population):
Singapore. Executions by hanging for even small offenses
such as drug crimes. |
|
Countries
without the Death Penalty:
-Canada, Mexico, most of Europe, a lot of Latin
America, Australia and New Zealand
-In
2007, Albania, Rwanda and
Kyrgzstan ended
their Death Penalties.
|
| |
Top
states in numbers of executions in 2006:
-Texas with 26.
Oklahoma and Alabama with 3 executions each. |
|
|
Executions
were re-instated by the Supreme Court after a break in 1976. The
court was concerned about the various state DP laws being unconstituional
in regard to cruel and unusual punishment and due process of law.
- In the 1980s, about 20 Death Row inmates were executed each
year.
- In the 1990s, this number jumped dramatically from about 30
in the early 90s, to about 50 in the mid-90s and to a high of almost
100 executions in 1999.
- The number of executions per year is now on the decline with
60 executions in 2005.
- In total, the United States has executed 1,099 prisoners since
the 1976 re-instatement. |
| Texas
is quick to execute. Texas
has executed 40 per cent of its Death Row while California has only
executed 1 per cent of its Death Row population so far. |
| The
UN
(United Nations) opposes the Death Penalty. The US is in violation
of UN regulations by having the death penalty. |
|
US is the only
NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) country with the DP. |
| Michigan was
the 1st state to abolish the Death Penalty, in 1846. Some people
think Michigan wanted to be different from its neighbor, Canada,
which had public executions. |
| Wisconsin (my
homestate!) was the 2nd state to abolish the Death Penalty, in
1853. Interestingly, Wisconsin only ever executed one person,
a farmer who drowned his wife. His hanging became a public spectacle
and may have led to the DP being overturned. |
On
average per year, there are:
20,000
murders.
15,000 arrests for murder.
14,000 murder cases taken to court (not
all crimes are solved).
10,000 murder convictions.
3,000 persons eligible for the DP (usually 1st degree murder
with aggravating circumstances).
125 death sentences handed down.
50 executions. |
| The
number of death sentences handed out each year is declining! In
the 1990's, about 300 death sentences were handed down each
year. By 2000, it had declined to 225. In 2006, only 115 death
sentences were handed out. |
|
107 inmates
were released from Death Row in 2004. Of the 107, 25 inmates
had their convictions overturned and were released from Death
Row, while another 72 inmates had their death sentences removed
while still being convicted fo the original crime. 4 Death Row
inmates were given commutations, meaning a lesser sentence.
6 DR inmates had their death sentences declared unconstitutional
by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Of the 107
inmates released from Death Row, 57 are serving a lesser sentence,
20 are awaiting a new trial, 23 are awaiting a new sentencing and
1 had all capital charges dropped. The other 6 had no new actions
taken since being removed from DR.
|
|
In 2007, all 42 prisoners executed were male. Of
the 42 executed, 28 were white, 14 black. All were executed by
means of lethal injection.
|
|
|