United States
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 16
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 47
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The pace of USA executions is on the rise, pushed by...
- News items in the archive
- 1,543
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
United States is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 16 executions in the country, against 47 the year before. The archive holds 1,543 news items on United States, from 1999 to today.
In the United States the death penalty is a matter for the individual states as well as the federal government: some have abolished it, some retain it without applying it, and some carry out executions regularly. The prevailing method is lethal injection, and several states have reintroduced alternative methods.
Its death rows are among the most populated in the world and the wait often lasts decades. The debate concerns the availability of the drugs, wrongful convictions and the conditions of isolation. The archive follows executions, stays, commutations and court decisions, state by state.
Latest news
JULY 30, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: EVERY TOP 2020 DEMOCRAT SUPPORTS ENDING THE DEATH PENALTY
A few hours after the Trump administration announced it was bringing back federal executions, former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden had a single message: abolish the death penalty.
- JULY 25, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal Government Announces New Execution Protocol, Sets Five Execution Dates.
USA - Federal Government Announces New Execution Protocol, Sets Five Execution Dates.
- JULY 23, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Every top 2020 Democrat supports ending the death penalty.
USA - Every top 2020 Democrat supports ending the death penalty.
- JULY 23, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - BJS Releases “Capital Punishment, 2017”.
USA - BJS Releases “Capital Punishment, 2017”.
JULY 11, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYSPRING 2019 ‘DEATH ROW USA’ DOCUMENTS FURTHER SHRINKING OF U.S. DEATH-ROW POPULATION
The number of people on death row or facing capital resentencing in the United States has continued its 19-year decline, according to a new death-row census by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF).
- JULY 10, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Spring 2019 “Death Row USA” as of April 1, 2019
USA - Spring 2019 “Death Row USA” as of April 1, 2019
JULY 3, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DEATH PENALTY ABOLITIONISTS FASTING AT SUPREME COURT
As Death Penalty Use Declines, Highly Visible Anti-Death Penalty Activists from AAC (Abolitionist Action Committee) Continue Four Day Fast and Vigil at U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
- JULY 1, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 26th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty on the sidewalk in front of the US Supreme Court.
USA - 26th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty on the sidewalk in front of the US Supreme Court.
JUNE 27, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: CHARLES RAY FINCH BECOMES 166TH DEATH-ROW EXONEREE
Charles Ray Finch Becomes 166th Death-Row Exoneree as North Carolina Prosecutor Formally Drops All Charges.
- JUNE 26, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. Charles Ray Finch Becomes 166th Death-Row Exoneree
USA - North Carolina. Charles Ray Finch Becomes 166th Death-Row Exoneree
- JUNE 24, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A Snapshot in Time: The U.S. Reaches 1500 Executions.
USA - A Snapshot in Time: The U.S. Reaches 1500 Executions.
JUNE 21, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: 1500 PRISONERS EXECUTED FROM THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN 1976
Marion Wilson, 42, Black, was executed in Georgia on 20 June 2019.
- JUNE 20, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Georgia. Marion Wilson was executed. His execution was the 1,500th since the death penalty was reintroduced in the United States in 1976.
USA - Georgia. Marion Wilson was executed. His execution was the 1,500th since the death penalty was reintroduced in the United States in 1976.
- JUNE 18, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. Federal judge William Lawrence vacated the federal death sentence of Bruce Carneil Webster
USA - Federal. Federal judge William Lawrence vacated the federal death sentence of Bruce Carneil Webster
- MAY 28, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Military. Christian L. Reismeier has been named to oversee the military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay
USA - Military. Christian L. Reismeier has been named to oversee the military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay
- APRIL 24, 2019United StatesWHEN PREVENTION IS WORSE THAN PUNISHMENT
USA - The U.S. Prison Population is Shrinking.
USA - The U.S. Prison Population is Shrinking.
- APRIL 23, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Wrongful Use or Threat of Capital Prosecutions Implicated in Five Exonerations in 2018.
USA - Wrongful Use or Threat of Capital Prosecutions Implicated in Five Exonerations in 2018.
- APRIL 20, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death Row USA Winter 2019 Shows Ongoing Decline in Death Row Populations.
USA - Death Row USA Winter 2019 Shows Ongoing Decline in Death Row Populations.
- APRIL 16, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Military. Federal Appeals Court Strikes Two Years of Guantánamo Tribunal Decisions in USS Cole Case.
USA - Military. Federal Appeals Court Strikes Two Years of Guantánamo Tribunal Decisions in USS Cole Case.
- APRIL 12, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Alabama. Divided Supreme Court says execution of Christopher Lee Price can proceed
USA - Alabama. Divided Supreme Court says execution of Christopher Lee Price can proceed
- MARCH 22, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge ruled against Joseph E. Duncan
USA - Federal. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge ruled against Joseph E. Duncan
- MARCH 20, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death Row USA Fall 2018
USA - Death Row USA Fall 2018
- FEBRUARY 13, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Supreme Court’s Intervention to Allow Execution of Domineque Ray Provokes Widespread Condemnation.
USA - Supreme Court’s Intervention to Allow Execution of Domineque Ray Provokes Widespread Condemnation.
- FEBRUARY 13, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - FBI releases serial killer Samuel Little's drawings of victims in the hope that they can be identified.
USA - FBI releases serial killer Samuel Little's drawings of victims in the hope that they can be identified.
- FEBRUARY 12, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - More than 48,000 people are being held in immigration detention.
USA - More than 48,000 people are being held in immigration detention.
- FEBRUARY 2, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death-Penalty Film, ‘Clemency,’ Wins Sundance Festival Best Drama Award.
USA - Death-Penalty Film, ‘Clemency,’ Wins Sundance Festival Best Drama Award.
JANUARY 29, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: JAY-Z AND MEEK MILL OFFICIALLY LAUNCH THEIR REFORM ALLIANCE WITH A $50 MILLION PLEDGE
In the months since Meek Mill was released from prison after a lengthy — and as-yet-unfinished — battle with the criminal justice system, the Philadelphia rapper has been an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform, appearing on television and writi
- JANUARY 23, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Jay-Z And Meek Mill Officially Launch Their REFORM Alliance With A $50 Million Pledge.
USA - Jay-Z And Meek Mill Officially Launch Their REFORM Alliance With A $50 Million Pledge.
- JANUARY 11, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Chaos Continues in Guantánamo Death-Penalty Trial
USA - Chaos Continues in Guantánamo Death-Penalty Trial
- JANUARY 8, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: IN 2018 THE POLICE KILLED 1810 PEOPLE
According to Fatal Encounters, in 2018 the police killed 1810 people.