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 26, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Drug maker opposes use of its sedative for executions
USA - Drug maker opposes use of its sedative for executions
- JANUARY 25, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - UK firm 'has sold enough drugs to execute 90 inmates'.
USA - UK firm 'has sold enough drugs to execute 90 inmates'.
JANUARY 25, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: OHIO TO REPLACE SODIUM THIOPENTAL WITH PENTOBARBITAL
Ohio has announced it will no longer be using the known common anesthetic for
- JANUARY 23, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - American Society of Anesthesiologists Statement on Sodium Thiopental’s Removal from the Market
USA - American Society of Anesthesiologists Statement on Sodium Thiopental’s Removal from the Market
- JANUARY 21, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Hospira announced today it will exit the sodium thiopental market and no longer attempt to resume production of its product
USA - Hospira announced today it will exit the sodium thiopental market and no longer attempt to resume production of its product
- JANUARY 15, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - federal. Judge Ginger Berrigan has overturned the death sentence of Paul Hardy
USA - federal. Judge Ginger Berrigan has overturned the death sentence of Paul Hardy
JANUARY 15, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: DEATH SENTENCE OVERTURNED
US District Judge Ginger Berrigan has overturned the death sentence of Paul
- JANUARY 12, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Long neutral, FDA helps states get drug needed for executions.
USA - Long neutral, FDA helps states get drug needed for executions.
- JANUARY 8, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Police officials argue death penalty doesn't make us safer
USA - Police officials argue death penalty doesn't make us safer
- JANUARY 4, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Murder Victims’ Families Need Services More Than the Death Penalty.
USA - Murder Victims’ Families Need Services More Than the Death Penalty.
- JANUARY 1, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Of the 50 states that make up the United States of America, 38 have the death penalty.
Of the 50 states that make up the United States of America, 38 have the death penalty.
- DECEMBER 20, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Executions Down 12% Nationwide; Death Sentences Near Historic Lows in 2010
USA - Executions Down 12% Nationwide; Death Sentences Near Historic Lows in 2010
DECEMBER 16, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: OKLAHOMA USES ANIMAL EUTHANASIA DRUG IN EXECUTION
A US state executed a convicted murderer with an animal drug for the first time because of an anesthetic shortage.
- NOVEMBER 29, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Tennessee. Supreme Court Halts 4 Executions
USA - Tennessee. Supreme Court Halts 4 Executions
NOVEMBER 19, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: JUDGE ALLOWS NEW LETHAL INJECTION DRUG FOR OKLAHOMA EXECUTIONS
U.S District Judge Stephen P. Friot allows new lethal injection drug for Oklahoma executions
- NOVEMBER 16, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Poll Shows Growing Support for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
USA - Poll Shows Growing Support for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
NOVEMBER 16, 2010ItalyDEATH PENALTYDEATH PENALTY: ZAMPARUTTI (RADICALS)- ITALY NOT TO COLLABORATE WITH THE US LETHAL INJECTION
Radical parliamentarian and Hands Off Cain treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti today presented an urgent interrogation to the Council President and the Health Minister.
- NOVEMBER 11, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - US opposed the moratorium vote at the U.N. The U.N General Assembly Human Rights Committee
USA - US opposed the moratorium vote at the U.N. The U.N General Assembly Human Rights Committee
- NOVEMBER 8, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Little changes in yearly Gallup poll
USA - Little changes in yearly Gallup poll
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: GEORGIA EXECUTES INMATE WHO HAD ATTEMPTED SUICIDE
A Georgia prisoner who tried to kill himself last week by slashing his arms and throat with a razor blade was executed amid heightened security for the 1998 murders of a trucking company owner and his two children.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 2009 FBI Crime Report: Murder Rate Highest in the South, Lowest in the Northeast
USA - 2009 FBI Crime Report: Murder Rate Highest in the South, Lowest in the Northeast
- AUGUST 30, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - DEATH ROW USA Winter 2010 Now Available
USA - DEATH ROW USA Winter 2010 Now Available
- AUGUST 28, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Anesthesia shortage may delay executions.
USA - Anesthesia shortage may delay executions.
- AUGUST 28, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: ANESTHESIA SHORTAGE MAY DELAY EXECUTIONS
A nationwide shortage of several anesthesia drugs has left several states scrambling to
- JULY 27, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. In North Carolina, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. imposed the death penalty on Alejandro Umana
USA - Federal. In North Carolina, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. imposed the death penalty on Alejandro Umana
- JULY 21, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Execution Delayed Following State Department Request
USA - Texas. Execution Delayed Following State Department Request
- JUNE 30, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the death sentence given to Ronell Wilson
USA - Federal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the death sentence given to Ronell Wilson
- JUNE 28, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is reaffirming her support for the death penalty
USA - Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is reaffirming her support for the death penalty
JUNE 24, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURNED THE DEATH SENTENCE OF BILLY JOE MAGWOOD
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Billy Joe Magwood, ruling that Magwood can argue that Alabama retroactively changed its laws to make his crime qualify for the death penalty.
- MAY 13, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal Judge Asks U.S. Attorney General to Re-consider Death Penalty Over Costs
USA - Federal Judge Asks U.S. Attorney General to Re-consider Death Penalty Over Costs