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 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 PENALTYUSA: 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 --
- OCTOBER 7, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Georgia. U.S. Supreme Court declines to review Georgia's unusual burden for proving mental retardation.
USA - Georgia. U.S. Supreme Court declines to review Georgia's unusual burden for proving mental retardation.
- OCTOBER 4, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - A new report: a minority of counties (2%) produce most death cases
USA - A new report: a minority of counties (2%) produce most death cases
- OCTOBER 3, 2013BelgiumDEATH PENALTY
Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian man jailed in Belgium in 2003 for planning to attack a Nato air base, was
Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian man jailed in Belgium in 2003 for planning to attack a Nato air base, was
OCTOBER 2, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ONLY 2% OF COUNTIES RESPONSIBLE FOR MAJORITY OF U.S. DEATH PENALTY
The Death Penalty Information Center released a new report: “The 2% Death Penalty: How
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 160,000 inmates have life sentences; of those 50,000 are ineligible for parole
USA - 160,000 inmates have life sentences; of those 50,000 are ineligible for parole
SEPTEMBER 18, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: USE OF LIFE SENTENCES INCREASED
One in every nine inmates incarcerated across the country is now serving a life sentence
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - “Death Row, USA Spring 2013” Now Available. The report is updated until April 1, 2013.
USA - “Death Row, USA Spring 2013” Now Available. The report is updated until April 1, 2013.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ‘DEATH ROW, USA SPRING 2013’ NOW AVAILABLE
The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Death Row, USA shows a continuation of
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2013United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Judge Nicholas Garaufis formally sentenced Ronell Wilson, 31, Black, to death
USA - Judge Nicholas Garaufis formally sentenced Ronell Wilson, 31, Black, to death