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
- MAY 13, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: PFIZER BLOCKS THE USE OF ITS DRUGS IN EXECUTIONS
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced today that it has imposed sweeping controls on the distribution of its products to ensure that none are used in lethal injections, a step that closes off the last remaining open-market source of drugs used in exec
- MAY 10, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Department of Justice will not seek the death penalty against Ahmed Abu Khattala
USA - The Department of Justice will not seek the death penalty against Ahmed Abu Khattala
MAY 10, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WILL NOT SEEK DEATH PENALTY AGAINST AHMED ABU KHATTALA
The United States Department of Justice has announced that it will not seek the death penalty against
- APRIL 27, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Thre names of the 49 death sentences of 2015
USA - Thre names of the 49 death sentences of 2015
- APRIL 21, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Missouri. Oklahoma. Missouri Execution Drug Supplier Being Sold After Committing 1892 Violations of Pharmacy Regulations.
USA - Missouri. Oklahoma. Missouri Execution Drug Supplier Being Sold After Committing 1892 Violations of Pharmacy Regulations.
- APRIL 15, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: FDA BLOCKS TEXAS IMPORT OF EXECUTION DRUG
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told the Texas Department of Criminal Justice it is tentatively
- APRIL 12, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Mylan reprimanded for drug used in at least one Alabama execution.
USA - Mylan reprimanded for drug used in at least one Alabama execution.
- MARCH 15, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that federal death row inmate Ronell Wilson is ineligible for the death penalty because he has intellectual disability
USA - Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that federal death row inmate Ronell Wilson is ineligible for the death penalty because he has intellectual disability
MARCH 15, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: RONELL WILSON'S DEATH SENTENCE VACATED DUE TO 'INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY'
United States District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that federal death row inmate Ronell Wilson is ineligible for the death penalty because he has intellectual disability.
- MARCH 13, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ricky Jackson, who spent 39 years in prison, confronts Clinton on death penalty.
USA - Ricky Jackson, who spent 39 years in prison, confronts Clinton on death penalty.
- FEBRUARY 17, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment
USA - Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment
- FEBRUARY 15, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Justice Antonin Scalia has died today at age 79.
USA - Justice Antonin Scalia has died today at age 79.
FEBRUARY 13, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA DIES AT 79
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1986 by President
- FEBRUARY 10, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Judge Orders Evidentiary Hearing On Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty.
USA - Judge Orders Evidentiary Hearing On Constitutionality of Federal Death Penalty.
- FEBRUARY 5, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Hillary Clinton is partially against death penalty.
USA - Hillary Clinton is partially against death penalty.
- FEBRUARY 5, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Bernie Sanders is against the death penalty.
USA - Bernie Sanders is against the death penalty.
FEBRUARY 5, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: BERNIE SANDERS IS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY
After Hillary Clinton said during the MSNBC Democratic debate that she reluctantly supports capital punishment, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew a contrast. "I just don't want to see government be part of killing, that's all," he said.
- FEBRUARY 3, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - National Registry of Exonerations Reports Record 58 Homicide Exonerations in 2015, Including 5 from Death Row.
USA - National Registry of Exonerations Reports Record 58 Homicide Exonerations in 2015, Including 5 from Death Row.
FEBRUARY 3, 2016United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: REPORT FINDS RECORD NUMBER OF EXONERATIONS IN 2015
A report released by the National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) reported that a record 149 defendants
- JANUARY 1, 2016United 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
- DECEMBER 18, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Report: 75% of 2015 Executions Raised Serious Concerns About Mental Health or Innocence
USA - Report: 75% of 2015 Executions Raised Serious Concerns About Mental Health or Innocence
DECEMBER 18, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: 75% OF 2015 EXECUTIONS RAISED SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH OR INNOCENCE
Three quarters of American executions in 2015 involved cases of "crippling disabilities and uncertain guilt,"
- DECEMBER 15, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Death Penalty Use in 2015 Declines Sharply.
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Death Penalty Use in 2015 Declines Sharply.
DECEMBER 15, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DPIC RELEASES YEAR END REPORT
The use of the death penalty in the U.S. declined by virtually every measure in 2015.
- DECEMBER 3, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Counties With Highest Rates of Killings by Police Also Among Highest in Death Sentences.
USA - Counties With Highest Rates of Killings by Police Also Among Highest in Death Sentences.
DECEMBER 3, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: COUNTIES WITH HIGHEST RATES OF KILLINGS BY POLICE ALSO AMONG HIGHEST IN DEATH SENTENCES
The counties in the United States that have the highest per capita rate of killings by police officers also rank
- NOVEMBER 30, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Defendants Begin Systemic Challenges to Constitutionality of Death Penalty.
USA - Defendants Begin Systemic Challenges to Constitutionality of Death Penalty.
- NOVEMBER 30, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: DEFENDANTS BEGIN SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES TO CONSTITUTIONALITY OF DEATH PENALTY
Lawyers for capital defendants and death row inmates across the country have begun to respond to what
- NOVEMBER 24, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A majority of Americans prefer life without parole to the death penalty, according to the 2015 American Values Survey
USA - A majority of Americans prefer life without parole to the death penalty, according to the 2015 American Values Survey
NOVEMBER 24, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS PREFER LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE TO THE DEATH PENALTY
A majority of Americans prefer life without parole to the death penalty, according to the 2015 American Values Survey by the Public Religion Research Institute.