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
- 1,537
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 1,537 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
- JANUARY 17, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - President Obama Commutes Death Sentences of Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz and Dwight Loving
USA - President Obama Commutes Death Sentences of Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz and Dwight Loving
JANUARY 17, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: PRESIDENT OBAMA COMMUTES TWO DEATH SENTENCES
President Barack Obama commuted the death sentences of Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz, a federal death row prisoner, and Dwight Loving, a military death row prisoner.
- JANUARY 11, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - South Carolina. U.S. Judge Richard Gergel has formally sentenced Dylann Roof to death
USA - South Carolina. U.S. Judge Richard Gergel has formally sentenced Dylann Roof to death
JANUARY 10, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DYLANN ROOF SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE MURDERS OF NINE BLACK CHURCH MEMBERS
Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who shot dead nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, was sentenced to death by a federal jury.
- JANUARY 9, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Massachusetts. A federal jury has sentenced Gary Lee Sampson to death
USA - Massachusetts. A federal jury has sentenced Gary Lee Sampson to death
- JANUARY 1, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTY
To date, the death penalty no longer exists in 18 of the 50 U.S. States
To date, the death penalty no longer exists in 18 of the 50 U.S. States
- JANUARY 1, 2017United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pfizer Blocks the Use of Its Drugs in Executions.
USA - Pfizer Blocks the Use of Its Drugs in Executions.
- DECEMBER 29, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Washington. Governor Issues Reprieve FOR Elmore, Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty.
USA - Washington. Governor Issues Reprieve FOR Elmore, Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty.
- DECEMBER 29, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nebraska. Prisons chief gets new license for death penalty drugs, with 'no immediate plans' to use it.
USA - Nebraska. Prisons chief gets new license for death penalty drugs, with 'no immediate plans' to use it.
- DECEMBER 21, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Historic Declines in Death Penalty Use Continue.
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Historic Declines in Death Penalty Use Continue.
- DECEMBER 21, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Jury Urges Death Penalty for Steven Dean Gordon
USA - California. Jury Urges Death Penalty for Steven Dean Gordon
DECEMBER 21, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: HISTORIC DECLINES IN DEATH PENALTY USE CONTINUE
Death sentences, executions, and public support for the death penalty continued their historic declines in 2016, according to DPIC's annual report, "The Death Penalty in 2016: Year End Report," released on December 21.
- DECEMBER 16, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Alabama. The Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated the death sentences of Ronnie Kirksey, Corey Wimbley, and Ryan Russell
USA - Alabama. The Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated the death sentences of Ronnie Kirksey, Corey Wimbley, and Ryan Russell
- DECEMBER 16, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nevada. A jury sentenced Norman Belcher to death
USA - Nevada. A jury sentenced Norman Belcher to death
- DECEMBER 13, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Michael Dukakis endorses campaign to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg, executed in 1953.
USA - Michael Dukakis endorses campaign to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg, executed in 1953.
DECEMBER 13, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: EX-GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS ENDORSES CAMPAIGN TO EXONERATE ETHEL ROSENBERG, EXECUTED IN 1953
More than 60 years after the execution of alleged spy Ethel Rosenberg, a former governor of Massachusetts has endorsed a campaign to exonerate her.
NOVEMBER 28, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: JUDGE GRANTS DYLANN ROOF'S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF IN FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY TRIAL
U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Gergel granted a request from Dylann Roof, the 22-year-old charged
- NOVEMBER 14, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - CNN: A comeback for the death penalty?
USA - CNN: A comeback for the death penalty?
NOVEMBER 14, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: A COMEBACK FOR THE DEATH PENALTY?
After years of declining use of the death penalty across the United States and declining public support for
- NOVEMBER 10, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pro-Death Penalty Referenda Prevail in 3 States; Kansas Retains 4 Justices Attacked for Death Penalty Decisions
USA - Pro-Death Penalty Referenda Prevail in 3 States; Kansas Retains 4 Justices Attacked for Death Penalty Decisions
NOVEMBER 10, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: PRO-DEATH PENALTY REFERENDA PREVAIL IN 3 STATES; KANSAS RETAINS 4 JUSTICES ATTACKED FOR DEATH PENALTY DECISIONS
Voters in three states approved pro-death penalty ballot questions on Novembre 8, while in a fourth, voters
- NOVEMBER 9, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A result is not yet final, the two major referendum on the death penalty in Nebraska e California seem to have been negative
USA - A result is not yet final, the two major referendum on the death penalty in Nebraska e California seem to have been negative
- NOVEMBER 9, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nebraska. At 1 p.m. Italian time, it is definitive the count on Referendum No. 426: Nebraska reintroduces the death penalty
USA - Nebraska. At 1 p.m. Italian time, it is definitive the count on Referendum No. 426: Nebraska reintroduces the death penalty
- NOVEMBER 9, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. At 1 P.M. Italian time, after the counting of 86% of precincts, death penalty will not be abolished
USA - California. At 1 P.M. Italian time, after the counting of 86% of precincts, death penalty will not be abolished
- OCTOBER 27, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Studies: Death Penalty Adversely Affects Families of Victims and Defendants
USA - Studies: Death Penalty Adversely Affects Families of Victims and Defendants
- OCTOBER 27, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: DEATH PENALTY ADVERSELY AFFECTS FAMILIES OF VICTIMS AND DEFENDANTS
The death penalty adversely affects both families of murder victims and families of the accused, according to two recent journal articles.
- OCTOBER 25, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty at Lowest Level Since 1972
USA - Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty at Lowest Level Since 1972
- OCTOBER 24, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pew: U.S. executions near a 25-year low.
USA - Pew: U.S. executions near a 25-year low.
OCTOBER 24, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: U.S. EXECUTIONS NEAR A 25-YEAR LOW
The U.S. is on track for its fewest executions in a quarter century, Pew Research Center reported.
- OCTOBER 12, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Harvard University: A Handful of Counties Are Keeping the Death Penalty Alive
USA - Harvard University: A Handful of Counties Are Keeping the Death Penalty Alive