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 27, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nation Saw Record Number of Exonerations in 2014
USA - Nation Saw Record Number of Exonerations in 2014
- JANUARY 20, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens acknowledged evidence that proved "beyond a shadow of doubt" that Texas executed an innocent man in 1989.
USA - Texas. Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens acknowledged evidence that proved "beyond a shadow of doubt" that Texas executed an innocent man in 1989.
- JANUARY 5, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Boston Marathon bombing trial: Jury selection to start today.
USA - Boston Marathon bombing trial: Jury selection to start today.
- JANUARY 5, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Massachusetts. Boston Marathon bombing trial: Jury selection to start today.
USA - Massachusetts. Boston Marathon bombing trial: Jury selection to start today.
- JANUARY 1, 2015United 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, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Executions and Death Sentence Fall to Historic Lows.
USA - DPIC Releases Year End Report: Executions and Death Sentence Fall to Historic Lows.
DECEMBER 18, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: EXECUTIONS, NEW DEATH SENTENCES CONTINUE TO FALL
Executions and new death sentences dropped to their lowest numbers in decades in 2014, an anti-death
- DECEMBER 1, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Capital Punishment and Roman Catholic Moral Tradition, Second Edition by E. Christian Brugger.
USA - Capital Punishment and Roman Catholic Moral Tradition, Second Edition by E. Christian Brugger.
NOVEMBER 19, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: RICKY JACKSON EXONERATED IN OHIO
A Cleveland judge dropped all charges against a man who has spent 39 years in prison for murder, making
- NOVEMBER 17, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Attorney General Eric Holder Shares His Feelings On The Death Penalty.
USA - Attorney General Eric Holder Shares His Feelings On The Death Penalty.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER SHARES HIS FEELINGS ON THE DEATH PENALTY
This interview was reported for The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that just launched: “I
- NOVEMBER 16, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Lawyers for Death Row Inmates Missed Critical Filing Deadlines in 80 Cases
USA - Lawyers for Death Row Inmates Missed Critical Filing Deadlines in 80 Cases.
- NOVEMBER 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Justice Department released its annual Uniform Crime Report for 2013.
USA - The Justice Department released its annual Uniform Crime Report for 2013.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - "Death Row, USA" Fall 2014 Now Available.
USA - "Death Row, USA" Fall 2014 Now Available.
NOVEMBER 4, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ‘DEATH ROW, USA’ FALL 2014 NOW AVAILABLE
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Death Row, USA showed a continuing decline in
- OCTOBER 31, 2014FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Another Florida Inmate Added to Exoneration List.
USA - Florida. Another Florida Inmate Added to Exoneration List.
- OCTOBER 23, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death penalty Gallup poll released today
USA - Death penalty Gallup poll released today
- OCTOBER 16, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Study: death penalties deter many murders at far less cost.
USA - Study: death penalties deter many murders at far less cost.
- OCTOBER 3, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least 1 Capital Case.
USA - Supreme Court Begins New Term with at Least 1 Capital Case.
- OCTOBER 3, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: SUPREME COURT BEGINS NEW TERM WITH AT LEAST ONE CAPITAL CASE
The U.S. Supreme Court will begin its 2014-15 term on October 6.
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Louisiana. (federal) A federal jury today imposed the death penalty on Thomas Sanders
USA - Louisiana. (federal) A federal jury today imposed the death penalty on Thomas Sanders
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - More details about the allegation of inaccurate testimony by FBI experts in many capital cases.
USA - More details about the allegation of inaccurate testimony by FBI experts in many capital cases.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - "Death Row, USA" Spring 2014 Now Available.
USA - "Death Row, USA" Spring 2014 Now Available.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ‘DEATH ROW, USA’ SPRING 2014 NOW AVAILABLE
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Death Row, USA showed an ongoing decline in the
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: FEDERAL JUDGE CALLS OKLAHOMA EXECUTION PLAN UNREALISTIC
Twenty-one Oklahoma death row inmates, including three with upcoming execution dates, have filed suit
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Former FBI Director Says People Were Executed Based Partly on Faulty Agency Testimony
USA - Former FBI Director Says People Were Executed Based Partly on Faulty Agency Testimony
- JULY 30, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death Penalty on Hold in Most of the Country
USA - Death Penalty on Hold in Most of the Country
- JULY 24, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions orders new trial in Donald Fell's case
USA - U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions orders new trial in Donald Fell's case
- JULY 24, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - In Vermont, U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions overturns Donald Fell's 2005 conviction.
USA - In Vermont, U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions overturns Donald Fell's 2005 conviction.
- JULY 23, 2014GermanyDEATH PENALTY
USA - German Officials Refuse to Cooperate in Possible Death Penalty Case.
USA - German Officials Refuse to Cooperate in Possible Death Penalty Case.