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
- JULY 16, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Inspector General's Report Faults FBI Review of Death Penalty Cases.
USA - Inspector General's Report Faults FBI Review of Death Penalty Cases.
JULY 16, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: INSPECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT FAULTS FBI REVIEW OF DEATH PENALTY CASES
According to a report released on July 16 by the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Justice,
- JULY 3, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - "Death Row USA" Winter 2014 Now Available.
USA - "Death Row USA" Winter 2014 Now Available.
JULY 3, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ‘DEATH ROW USA’ WINTER 2014 NOW AVAILABLE
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Death Row USA showed a continuing decline in the
- JULY 1, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Hawaii. $4.3M spent on Hawaii death penalty case's defense.
USA - Hawaii. $4.3M spent on Hawaii death penalty case's defense.
- JUNE 21, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Drug challenges are failing to halt executions, according to Time Magazine
USA - Drug challenges are failing to halt executions, according to Time Magazine
- JUNE 20, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Number of States Carrying Out Executions Declining.
USA - Number of States Carrying Out Executions Declining.
- JUNE 15, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - U.S. Special Forces captured Ahmed Abu Khattala in a covert mission in Libya.
USA - U.S. Special Forces captured Ahmed Abu Khattala in a covert mission in Libya.
- JUNE 5, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - National Poll: 52 % would choose life in prison rather than death.
USA - National Poll: 52 % would choose life in prison rather than death.
- MAY 30, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal Judge Liam O'Grady sentenced Jorge Torrez to death
USA - Federal Judge Liam O'Grady sentenced Jorge Torrez to death
- MAY 27, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Supreme Court Strikes Down Florida's Strict IQ Cutoff for Death Penalty.
USA - Florida. Supreme Court Strikes Down Florida's Strict IQ Cutoff for Death Penalty.
MAY 19, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: GEORGIA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS LAW PROTECTING ANONYMITY OF EXECUTION DRUG SUPPLIERS
Georgia's highest court ruled that the law that makes the identity of an execution drug supplier a "confidential
MAY 15, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: GUARDIAN CHALLENGES LETHAL INJECTION SECRECY IN LANDMARK MISSOURI LAWSUIT
the growing secrecy adopted by death penalty states to hide the source of their lethal injection drugs used in executions was challenged in a new lawsuit in Missouri, which argues that the American people have a right to know how the ultimate punishment i
- MAY 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - On Cnn: It's time to televise executions.
USA - On Cnn: It's time to televise executions.
- MAY 7, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Panel suggests fixes for death penalty in U.S.
USA - Panel suggests fixes for death penalty in U.S.
MAY 7, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DRUG COCKTAIL IN EXECUTIONS DEEMED ‘TOO CRUEL FOR ANIMALS’
A scathing new report by a bipartisan panel of criminal justice experts said some chemicals used to execute
MAY 2, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYOBAMA: THERE HAVE BEEN 'SIGNIFICANT' PROBLEMS WITH THE DEATH PENALTY
President Barack Obama called the botched execution of an Oklahoma inmate "deeply troubling" and announced that he was going to ask the Attorney General to analyze problems surrounding the application of the death penalty in the United States.
- MAY 2, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - UN urges death penalty moratorium in US.
USA - UN urges death penalty moratorium in US.
- MAY 1, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Not all physicians are against participating in executions
USA - Not all physicians are against participating in executions
- APRIL 28, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - More Than 4% of Death Row Inmates May Be Innocent.
USA - More Than 4% of Death Row Inmates May Be Innocent.
- APRIL 24, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A federal jury in Virginia sentenced Jorge Torrez to death
USA - A federal jury in Virginia sentenced Jorge Torrez to death
APRIL 22, 2014VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: AMERICAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN
State media say a court in Vietnam has sentenced an American to death for heroin trafficking.
APRIL 12, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYIRAN: FORMER MARINE ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY AFTER SENTENCE IS SECRETLY REDUCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON
A former Marine incarcerated in Iran in 2011 and sentenced to death on espionage charges was secretly
- MARCH 24, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pharmacists urged not to assist US executions.
USA - Pharmacists urged not to assist US executions.
- MARCH 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death penalty states are taking elaborate steps to secure drugs for use in lethal injections, USA Today reports.
USA - Death penalty states are taking elaborate steps to secure drugs for use in lethal injections, USA Today reports.
- MARCH 9, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - “Death Row Stories” debuts tomorrow on CNN.
USA - “Death Row Stories” debuts tomorrow on CNN.
- FEBRUARY 12, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pew Poll Shows Sharp Drop in Death Penalty Support
USA - Pew Poll Shows Sharp Drop in Death Penalty Support
- FEBRUARY 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Obama Administration Considers Assassinating Another American Overseas.
USA - Obama Administration Considers Assassinating Another American Overseas.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERS ASSASSINATING ANOTHER AMERICAN OVERSEAS
The Associated Press is reporting the White House is considering using a drone to kill an American citizen
- FEBRUARY 4, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The National Registry of Exonerations says 87 people had their criminal convictions dismissed in 2013
USA - The National Registry of Exonerations says 87 people had their criminal convictions dismissed in 2013