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
- 1,546
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 1,546 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
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 PENALTYUSA: 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
- JANUARY 29, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The U.S. Government will seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
USA - The U.S. Government will seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
- JANUARY 28, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - President Obama put new urgency behind his drive to close the Guantanamo Bay prison
USA - President Obama put new urgency behind his drive to close the Guantanamo Bay prison
- JANUARY 26, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Mexico President Peña Nieto ctiticizes the execution of Mexican national Edgar Tamayo in Texas
USA - Mexico President Peña Nieto ctiticizes the execution of Mexican national Edgar Tamayo in Texas
- JANUARY 22, 2014MexicoDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Edgar Tamayo, a Mexican national whose case gained international attention, was executed
USA - Texas. Edgar Tamayo, a Mexican national whose case gained international attention, was executed
- JANUARY 19, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Mexico today strongly objected to the scheduled execution in Texas on Jan. 22 of a Mexican man, Edgar Tamayo
USA - Texas. Mexico today strongly objected to the scheduled execution in Texas on Jan. 22 of a Mexican man, Edgar Tamayo
- JANUARY 17, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA / Europe. Council of Europe condemns 'cruel' execution of Ohio killer, calls for protest.
USA / Europe. Council of Europe condemns 'cruel' execution of Ohio killer, calls for protest.
- JANUARY 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - CNN is going to death row with Robert Redford and Susan Sarandon
USA - CNN is going to death row with Robert Redford and Susan Sarandon
JANUARY 10, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: CNN COLLABORATING WITH ROBERT REDFORD AND ALEX GIBNEY ON 'DEATH ROW STORIES'
CNN is going to death row. The network announced today at the Television Critics Association winter
JANUARY 10, 2014Puerto RicoDEATH PENALTYSPANISH COURT BACKS PUERTO RICAN'S EXTRADITION
A Spanish court ordered the extradition of a Puerto Rican woman wanted by U.S. federal authorities for
- JANUARY 3, 2014United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nationwide, 80 death sentences were imposed last year
USA - Nationwide, 80 death sentences were imposed last year
- JANUARY 1, 2014United 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 19, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Death Penalty Information Center released its annual report on the latest developments in capital punishment
USA - The Death Penalty Information Center released its annual report on the latest developments in capital punishment
- DECEMBER 18, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Executions down 11.6% from last year.
USA - Executions down 11.6% from last year.
- DECEMBER 15, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Secretary of State John Kerry urges Texas to reconsider death sentence of Edgar Arias Tamayo, a Mexican citizen
USA - Texas. Secretary of State John Kerry urges Texas to reconsider death sentence of Edgar Arias Tamayo, a Mexican citizen
- DECEMBER 11, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - US Congress's Asia and Pacific Subcommittee has also marked up a resolution on organ harvesting in China.
USA - US Congress's Asia and Pacific Subcommittee has also marked up a resolution on organ harvesting in China.
- NOVEMBER 11, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Former US president Jimmy Carter has called for a new nationwide moratorium on the death penalty
USA - Former US president Jimmy Carter has called for a new nationwide moratorium on the death penalty
NOVEMBER 11, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: JIMMY CARTER CALLS FOR FRESH MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
Former US president Jimmy Carter has called for a new nationwide moratorium on the death
- OCTOBER 29, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Support for death penalty lowest in four decades in US.
USA - Support for death penalty lowest in four decades in US.
- OCTOBER 29, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - FBI Releases Report Including State Murder Rates for 2012
USA - FBI Releases Report Including State Murder Rates for 2012
- OCTOBER 29, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: FBI RELEASES REPORT INCLUDING STATE MURDER RATES FOR 2012
The U.S. Department of Justice recently released its annual FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2012. The
OCTOBER 29, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY LOWEST IN FOUR DECADES
Support for the death penalty is at a four-decade low in the United States, though most Americans --