Statistics

These statistics are from the Bureau of Justice and are the official United States statistics as compiled by the government. I've updated them in January, 2011 using the Bureau's latest numbers which are compiled from data for 2009. Some of the numbers in this table are for the year 2010 and come from other sources (will be marked by an asterisk and note).
Executions so far this year (2011)					27
Executions last year (2010)					46
Executions in 2009					52
Executions in 2008					37
Executions in 2007					42
Executions in 2006					53


Number of states with Death Penalty Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho IllinoisIndiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri MontanaNebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wyoming *35 states plus the Federal Government and the Military					35*
Number of states without Death Penalty and year they repealed it Alaska --------------1957 Hawaii---------------1948 Iowa -----------------1965 Maine----------------1887 Massachusetts-----1984 Michigan-------------1846 Minnesota-----------1911 New Jersey----------2007 New Mexico---------2009 New York------------2007 North Dakota-------1973 Rhode Island-------1984 Vermont-------------1964 Washington, D.C.--1981 West Virginia-------1965 Wisconsin-----------1853 *15 plus Washington, D.C. which is a district, not a state.					15*
Michigan was the 1st state to end its Death Penalty, in 1846. Perhaps this was in response to its neighbor, Canada, which had public executions.

Wisconsin (my homestate!) was the 2nd state to end its Death Penalty, in 1853. Wisconsin had only executed one person, a farmer who drowned his wife. His hanging became a public spectacle and may have led to the end of the Death Penalty.

Approx. number of Death Row inmates in US (about 40 less than in 2009) *this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center					3,260*
Includes 61 women on Death Row. *this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center
Average time spent on Death Row before being executed: 14 years* *this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center
Approx. number of Death Row inmates per state* *the following numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center
If you aren't familiar with the state abbreviations used below, you can check this list on the U.S. Postal Service website.
AL	200	KY	35	OK	85
AZ	135	LA	85	OR	30
AR	40	MD	5	PA	220
CA	695	MS	70	SC	60
CO	3	MO	60	SD	3
CT	10	MT	2	TN	90
DE	20	NE	10	TX	335
FL	400	NH	1	UT	10
GA	105	NV	80	VA	15
ID	15			WA	10
IL	15	NM*	2	WY	1
IN	15	NY	1	Feds	60
KS	10	NC	170	Military	8
		OH	170

States with the biggest population of Death Row inmates: California (695), Florida (400) and Texas (335). States with the fewest Death Row inmates: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state have fewer than 20 inmates (but more than 5) on Death Row. The U.S. Military has 8 people awaiting death. Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota have 5 or fewer people on Death Row. New Hampshire and Wyoming have only 1 lonely person each on their Death Rows. 2 states have recently ended executions: New Jersey (in 2007) and New Mexico (in 2009). New Jersey made their new law retroactive, meaning all 8 inmates on Death Row had their sentences changed to life in prison. New Mexico didn't, so the state has 2 inmates on Death Row still awaiting execution. Location of Federal and Military Death Rows: Federal Death Row is at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, IN for men and at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, TX for women. They are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Military Death Row is at Fort Leavenworth, KS for men (called the U.S. Discliplinary Barracks and operated by the Army) and at Miramar in San Diego, CA for women (called the Naval Consolidated Brig and operated by the Navy).

Just about every year Texas tops the list as the state with the most executions, with 17 in 2010. This is twice as many as the next state, Ohio with 8 executions.* In 2010, 4 states with death penalty laws did not execute anyone: Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.* *these numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

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 46 executions in 2010. - In total, the United States has executed 1,234 prisoners since the 1976 re-instatement (includes 2010 executions).
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 U.N. (United Nations) opposes the Death Penalty. The U.S. is in violation of U.N. regulations by having the Death Penalty.
The U.S. is the only NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) country with the Death Penalty.
On average per year, there are: 20,000 murders. 15,000 arrests for murder (not all crimes are solved). 14,000 murder cases taken to court (not all cases have strong enough evidence). 10,000 murder convictions. 3,000 persons eligible for the DP (usually 1st degree murder with aggravating circumstances). 115 death sentences handed down. 45 executions. This makes the Death Penalty arbitrary which means not applied evenly or fairly. Not everyone eligible for the Death Penalty is being sentenced to death and executed. Yet some are.
The number of death sentences handed out each year is declining! In the 1990s, about 300 death sentences were handed down each year. By 2000, it had declined to 225. In 2010, only 114 death sentences were handed out.* *these numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center
Methods of execution: In 2010, lethal injection was used in all but 2 of the executions. 1 death in Virginia was by electrocution. 1 death in Utah was by firing squad. These 2 inmates had the option of lethal injection, but chose the more gruesome, outdated methods.
Racial makeup: In 2009, about 55 per cent of the prisoners on Death Row were white and about 40 per cent were black. 5 per cent were listed as other, unspecified ethnicities.

The following worldwide statistics are from Amnesty International for the year 2009.
Approx. number of people executed worldwide in 2009					over 2,000
Approx. number of people in the world sentenced to death in 2009					over 2,000
Approx. number of countries with the Death Penalty					60
Approx. number of countries that performed executions in 2009					20
5 countries with the most executions:
China					thousands*
Iran					390
Iraq					120
Saudi Arabia					70
United States					50
*China refuses to release any execution numbers so this is a rough estimate.
Methods of execution worldwide: lethal injection (U.S. and China), public beheading (Saudia Arabia), firing squad (Iran, U.S. and other countries), hanging (Singapore and other countries), stoning (Afghanistan and other countries), electric chair (U.S.)
Countries that carried out executions in 2009: Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordon, Kuwait, Libya, North Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam and Yemen
Country you are most likely to be executed in (most executions per population): Singapore. Death sentences are handed out for minor crimes such as selling drugs.

Countries that ended the Death Penalty in 2009: Burundi and Togo, both in Africa.
Countries WITHOUT the Death Penalty: -Canada, Mexico, most of Europe (only little-known Belarus and Tajikistan still have the Death Penalty and Tajikistan has had a moratorium in place since 2004), much of Latin America, and Australia and New Zealand. Russia has issued a moratorium on executions, in place since 1999. Full list of countries WITHOUT the Death Penalty: Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belguim, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia (near Russia), Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See (where the Pope lives), Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia and Kosovo, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Venezuela