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
- 1,047
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 1,047 news items on United States, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 29, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
as 2006 draws to a close...
as 2006 draws to a close...
- NOVEMBER 13, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty for a California...
the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty for a California man convicted of murdering a 19-year-old woman during a burglary.
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
the FBI recently released the latest version of its Uniform Crime Reports:
the FBI recently released the latest version of its Uniform Crime Reports:
- JULY 28, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED NATIONS. US SHOULD ADOPT DEATH SENTENCE MORATORIUM, UNHRC
the US should adopt a moratorium on death sentences, the UN Human Rights Committee said, noting that capital punishment appears to be disproportionately imposed on minority groups and poor people.
- JULY 17, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
AMA: Physician Participation in Lethal Injection...
AMA: Physician Participation in Lethal Injection Violates Medical Ethics Following is a statement of William G. Plested, III, M.D., president, American Medical Association
- JULY 3, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. ANESTHESIOLOGISTS ASKED NOT TO HELP EXECUTE DEATH SENTENCES
the American Society of Anesthesiologists called on its members not to attend executions of death sentences by lethal injection, even if called to do so by a court.
- JULY 3, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. US SOLDIER CHARGED WITH RAPE AND MURDER TO FACE DEATH PENALTY IF CONVICTED
a former US soldier was arrested and charged with killing four Iraqi civilians and raping one of the female victims, US officials said.
- JUNE 29, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
GUANTANAMO. US TOP COURT DECLARES GUANTANAMO TRIBUNALS ILLEGAL
in a sharp rebuke of President George W. Bush's tactics in the war on terrorism, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unlawful the military tribunal system set up to try Guantanamo prisoners.
- JUNE 12, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. COURT ALLOWS INMATE APPEAL ON LETHAL INJECTION
US Supreme Court ruled that a death row inmate can bring a challenge under a federal civil rights law to the method of execution that uses a lethal three-chemical cocktail.
- MAY 1, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. ALITO'S FIRST OPINION SETS ASIDE SOUTH CAROLINA DEATH SENTENCE
the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously set aside a South Carolina murder conviction and death sentence, as Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in his 1st high court opinion said the man wasn't given a fair chance to mount a defense.
- MARCH 9, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. PATRIOT ACT LIKELY TO CURTAIL DEATH PENALTY APPEALS
President George W. Bush signed into law a Patriot Act renewal that will allow the government to keep using terror-fighting tools passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
- MARCH 7, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. THREE MEN FACING FEDERAL EXECUTION RECEIVE STAYS
Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a stay of execution for three co-defendants on federal death row who were scheduled to be executed in May, the Tribune Star reported.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. DEATH SENTENCES IN 2005 REACHED RECORD LOW
the latest edition of “Death Row Usa”, a quarterly report by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights organization for ethnic minorities in the united States, shows an 8% decline in the country's death row pop
- FEBRUARY 22, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT REJECTS NEW ALIBI EVIDENCE AT SENTENCING
convicted murderers facing the death penalty do not have a constitutional right at sentencing to offer new evidence seeking to cast doubt on their guilt, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously.
- FEBRUARY 9, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. BUSH’S OK SOUGHT FOR EXECUTIONS
President Bush has been asked to authorize the executions of two men who have been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth for a combined 35 years.
- FEBRUARY 2, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. INMATES FIGHT BACK AGAINST LETHAL INJECTION EXECUTION, AFP
the United States is taking a new look at the use of lethal injections to execute condemned prisoners after the challenges of three inmates who were barely saved from lethal injection by the Supreme Court.
- FEBRUARY 1, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. US SUPREME COURT HALTS EXECUTION OF MISSOURI INMATE
the US Supreme Court stayed the execution of Michael Taylor, an inmate in the midwestern state of Missouri who has argued that lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
- JANUARY 31, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
FLORIDA, USA. SUPREME COURT HALTS SECOND FLORIDA EXECUTION
the US Supreme Court halted the execution of Arthur Dennis Rutherford
- JANUARY 25, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT BLOCKS FLORIDA EXECUTION OF CLARENCE HILL
the US Supreme Court has blocked the execution of Clarence Hill to consider his appeal over the method used to carry out the punishment.
- JANUARY 12, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
in his 4th day of confirmation hearings...
in his 4th day of confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has been taking some questions on matters of life and death.
- JANUARY 11, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT TAKES UP FIRST DEATH ROW DNA CASE
the US Supreme Court for the first time heard an appeal by a death row inmate using new DNA evidence to proclaim his innocence and demand a retrial. The court's verdict, expected by mid 2006, will do more than seal the fate of convicted murderer Paul Hous
- JANUARY 10, 2006United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. FBI CHECKING PRINTS IN DEATH ROW CASES
the FBI is reviewing the cases of all state and federal prisoners scheduled for execution to determine whether bureau fingerprint examiners made errors that led to death sentences.
- DECEMBER 20, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL DEATH SENTENCE FOR WOMAN, FIRST IN OVER 50 YEARS
Angela Johnson was sentenced to death by a federal court after being found guilty of involvement in the murder of five people in the state of Iowa in 1993. She says she is innocent.
- DECEMBER 19, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
murder increased by 2.1% across the USA during the first 6 months...
murder increased by 2.1% across the USA during the first 6 months of 2005 and was on track to nearly reverse a 2.4% decline recorded last year, according to preliminary FBI figures released today.
- NOVEMBER 29, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA. GOVERNOR STOPS MILESTONE U.S. EXECUTION
Gov. Mark Warner spared the life of a convicted killer who would have been the 1,000th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. The governor commuted Robin Lovitt's death sentence to life
- NOVEMBER 15, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
a statement approved during this week's meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops...
a statement approved during this week's meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops...
- NOVEMBER 13, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. US REPORTS DECLINE IN EXECUTIONS
the number of people sentenced to death in the United States and the number executed fell again in 2004, according to the latest government figures.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
even as the use of the death penalty continued to decline in the United States, the number of murders and the national murder rate dropped in 2004.
even as the use of the death penalty continued to decline in the United States, the number of murders and the national murder rate dropped in 2004.
- OCTOBER 19, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. US DEATH PENALTY 'WOEFULLY SHORT OF JUSTICE', DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER
jurors in US death penalty cases are often excluded because of race and gender, are not shown critical evidence and tend to be conviction prone, the Death Penalty Information Center said in a report.
- OCTOBER 11, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT DENIES APPEAL BY STANLEY ‘TOOKIE’ WILLIAMS
the US Supreme Court declined to review the case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a California death-row inmate whose attorneys argued that the prosecutor had engaged in racial discrimination in selecting the jury for his trial.