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
- 1,550
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 1,550 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
- MARCH 24, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) is urging its members to stop working with lethal drugs
USA - The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) is urging its members to stop working with lethal drugs
MARCH 24, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: PHARMACISTS ARE GETTING CLOSER TO CUTTING OFF ACCESS TO DEATH PENALTY DRUGS
The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP), the leading trade group for compound
- MARCH 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Most death penalty sentences are overturned.
USA - Most death penalty sentences are overturned.
MARCH 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: MOST DEATH PENALTY SENTENCES ARE OVERTURNED
“If a person is given a death sentence, what is his or her chance of actually being executed? Based on a
- MARCH 6, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Akorn Pharmaceuticals objects to use of its midazolam and pentobarbital in executions.
USA - Akorn Pharmaceuticals objects to use of its midazolam and pentobarbital in executions.
MARCH 6, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: AKORN PHARMACEUTICALS OBJECTS TO USE OF DRUGS IN EXECUTIONS
Akorn Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of two drugs (midazolam and pentobarbital) that have been used in
- MARCH 2, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A new study says death penalty has no effect on crime
USA - A new study says death penalty has no effect on crime
- FEBRUARY 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Attorney General Eric Holder called today for a moratorium on the death penalty
USA - Attorney General Eric Holder called today for a moratorium on the death penalty
FEBRUARY 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: HOLDER FAVORS MORATORIUM ON LETHAL INJECTION
Attorney General Eric Holder said that a national moratorium on lethal injection "would be appropriate'' until the Supreme Court completes its latest review of the execution process as part of a case initially brought by Oklahoma death row inmates.
FEBRUARY 13, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: HANDS OFF CAIN WELCOMES THE MORATORIUM IN PENNSYLVANIA
the newly elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced today that he has suspended the death
- FEBRUARY 9, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A new Rasmussen poll found that 57% of American adults support the death penalty
USA - A new Rasmussen poll found that 57% of American adults support the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 4, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Conservative Leaders Seek Reprieve for Severely Mentally Ill Inmate Scott Panetti
USA - Texas. Conservative Leaders Seek Reprieve for Severely Mentally Ill Inmate Scott Panetti
- JANUARY 29, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death Penalty Less Likely When Murder Victim is a Black Male.
USA - Death Penalty Less Likely When Murder Victim is a Black Male.
- 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