2/2007 Tennessee is halting executions while lethal injection procedures are reviewed.
The governor has issued stays of execution for 4 Tennessee inmates facing death. Executions are at a standstill until May when the review will be complete.
1/2007 New Jersey commission recommends abolishing its death penalty.
After halting executions while a one-year study was completed, New Jersey officials want the state to end its death penalty.
12/2006 Maryland also suspends death by lethal injection.
The state wants to study its execution laws.
12/2006 California temporarily ends death by lethal injection.
Due to concerns about the chemicals used in the injections not working well enough, the governor of California has halted executions. New formulas will be tested to be sure the prisoner is not suffering "cruel and unusual punishment" when being given the drug cocktail. The drugs cause painful muscle spasms which may not be detected because other drugs in the injections cause muscle paralysis so the person cannot cry out.
12/2006 Florida is halting executions to study lethal injection procedures.
After a difficult execution in which a double dose of drugs was needed to kill the inmate and the execution took a slow 30 minutes to complete, the governor creates a commission to study effective methods.
1/2006 New Jersey passes 1-year moratorium.
The state will study its Death Penalty laws and decide how to proceed in the future. New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963.
5/2005 Texas ammends its laws to allow life in prison without possibility of parole.
Previously, juries were told someone given say 40 years in prison would be eligible for parole and may well be let out in 10 years or so only to kill again. In reality, murderers up for parole in Texas were just about never set free by the parole board. Now juries will have the option of life in prison as a good counterbalance to the death penalty.
3/2005
 DP abolished for those under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
Approx. 70 Death Row inmates who were juveniles when they committed their crime were transferred into the general prison population.
2004 Kansas ends its death penalty system.
2004 Utah ends its death by firing squad.
All executions will be by lethal injection.
2004 New York's DP cases are still on hold.
The governor is concerned about innocent men and women being convicted and also about the cost of the DP system. The NY Court of Appeals ruled their current DP laws to be unconstitutional.
2004 New Jersey DP cases are currently on hold.
The governor wants to research whether or not lethal injections are painful (muscle spasms, heart attacks) and whether not enough anesthesia is being given along with the paralyzing drugs.
2002 Maryland DP cases are halted by a moratorium.
2000 Illinois DP cases are halted by a moratorium.
The governor was troubled by 13 men on DR being found to be innocent through DNA testing. He also grew concerned about police corruption and racial bias within the DP system.
Cities no longer issuing DP sentences:
Atlanta, Baltimore, Philidelphia, San Francisco