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
- JUNE 22, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Receiving Death Penalty Is As Random As Being 'Struck By Lightning': Report.
USA - Receiving Death Penalty Is As Random As Being 'Struck By Lightning': Report.
- JUNE 11, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Lundbeck told the Financial Times that the firm is taking new hard-line measures to block its use for lethal injection
USA - Lundbeck told the Financial Times that the firm is taking new hard-line measures to block its use for lethal injection
JUNE 9, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYEP OPPOSES DEATH SENTENCE TO BE IMPOSED BY US MILITARY COURT
the European Parliament urged US authorities not to impose the death penalty on Saudi
- JUNE 6, 2011DenmarkDEATH PENALTY
USA - Lundbeck agrees to act on death penalty issue
USA - Lundbeck agrees to act on death penalty issue
- MAY 31, 2011United States Armed ForcesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pentagon files death penalty case against five accused 9/11 plotters
USA - Pentagon files death penalty case against five accused 9/11 plotters
- MAY 13, 2011DenmarkDEATH PENALTY
USA - A Danish pension fund has sold its shares in Lundbeck
USA - A Danish pension fund has sold its shares in Lundbeck
- MAY 13, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - At the Guantanamo Bay detention center, 174 men were still being held
USA - At the Guantanamo Bay detention center, 174 men were still being held
- MAY 13, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. The Parole Board recommended that Shawn Hawkins, 42, black, be spared execution.
USA - Ohio. The Parole Board recommended that Shawn Hawkins, 42, black, be spared execution.
MAY 6, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYBIN LADEN: HANDS OFF CAIN- WE DO NOT SHARE OBAMA'S OPINION
“Regarding Osama Bin Laden, we know too little to say if it was an ‘extra-judicial execution’ or an act of ‘legitimate defence’,” Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio D’Elia said.
- APRIL 22, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nearly 2/3 of the 16 states with active death chambers are switching to Pentobarbital for execution
USA - Nearly 2/3 of the 16 states with active death chambers are switching to Pentobarbital for execution
- APRIL 20, 2011United States Armed ForcesDEATH PENALTY
USA - US Military. Pentagon Seeks Death Penalty Against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, USS Cole Bombing Suspect.
USA - US Military. Pentagon Seeks Death Penalty Against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, USS Cole Bombing Suspect.
- APRIL 17, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Opinionis says: Obama tries to obstruct executions
USA - Opinionis says: Obama tries to obstruct executions
APRIL 14, 2011United KingdomDEATH PENALTYBRITAIN BANS EXPORT TO US OF EXECUTION DRUGS
Britain is to ban the export to the US of three pharmaceutical drugs that are used to execute prisoners on death row, business secretary Vince Cable has said.
APRIL 14, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYPACE URGES BELARUS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on
- APRIL 12, 2011DenmarkDEATH PENALTY
USA - Denmark's foreign minister says she will urge U.S. states not to use Danish Pentobarbital
USA - Denmark's foreign minister says she will urge U.S. states not to use Danish Pentobarbital
APRIL 12, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DENMARK'S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS SHE WILL URGE U.S. STATES NOT TO USE DANISH PENTOBARBITAL
Denmark's foreign minister says she will urge U.S. states such as Texas and Ohio to stop using
- APRIL 11, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. In Louisiana U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan has tossed the federal death sentence of John Wayne Johnson, 58, black
USA - Federal. In Louisiana U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan has tossed the federal death sentence of John Wayne Johnson, 58, black
APRIL 7, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYINDIA: FIRM TO STOP SELLING EXECUTION DRUG TO US PRISONS
An Indian drug company that supplied a key execution drug to U.S. prisons has decided to halt future sales following objections from death-penalty opponents.
- APRIL 1, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Tennessee and Kentucky turned over their supplies of Sodium thiopental to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
USA - Tennessee and Kentucky turned over their supplies of Sodium thiopental to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
- APRIL 1, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: TWO MORE STATES TURN OVER EXECUTIONS DRUG IN PROBE
Tennessee and Kentucky turned over their supplies of Sodium thiopental to the U.S. Drug
- MARCH 30, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Lundbeck, the supplier of pentobarbital, says it's not going to withdraw or restrict it
USA - Lundbeck, the supplier of pentobarbital, says it's not going to withdraw or restrict it
MARCH 16, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: BLOOD MONEY – CIA CONTRACTOR ACQUITTED OF MURDERS
Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor, who was alleged to have shot and killed two men
- MARCH 15, 2011GeorgiaDEATH PENALTY
GEORGIA (USA): DEA SEIZES SUPPLY OF EXECUTION DRUG
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized Georgia's supply of sodium
- MARCH 13, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal prisons run out of key execution drug
USA - Federal prisons run out of key execution drug
- FEBRUARY 10, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Europe. Novartis and its Sandoz unit have taken steps to stop sodium thiopental ending up in the United States.
USA - Europe. Novartis and its Sandoz unit have taken steps to stop sodium thiopental ending up in the United States.
- FEBRUARY 8, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 13 states ask Justice Department aid in obtaining sodium thiopental
USA - 13 states ask Justice Department aid in obtaining sodium thiopental
- FEBRUARY 8, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: 13 STATES ASK JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AID IN OBTAINING SCARCE EXECUTION DRUG
13 states ask Justice Department aid in obtaining scarce execution drug. The Justice Department
- FEBRUARY 3, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A jury voted to recommend that Brandon Rolle, 26, black, be executed
USA - Florida. A jury voted to recommend that Brandon Rolle, 26, black, be executed
- FEBRUARY 3, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - FDA sued over drug used in executions
USA - FDA sued over drug used in executions
- JANUARY 28, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The New York Times Opinion: On Lethal Injection, F.D.A. and Supreme Court are wrong
USA - The New York Times Opinion: On Lethal Injection, F.D.A. and Supreme Court are wrong