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
- MAY 4, 2010United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
USA. COURT REFUSES TO HEAR APPEAL OF KITTIAN WOMAN ON DEATH ROW
the United States Supreme Court refused to review the death sentence of Caribbean-born, British national Linda Carty, 51, who was convicted of murder in February 2002.
- MAY 2, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The American Board of Anesthesiologists has decided to revoke the certification of any member who participates in executions
USA - The American Board of Anesthesiologists has decided to revoke the certification of any member who participates in executions
MAY 2, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: ANESTHESIOLOGISTS FACE PENALTY FOR PARTICIPATING IN DEATH PENALTY
The American Board of Anesthesiologists has decided to revoke the certification of any member who participates in executing a prisoner by lethal injection.
- APRIL 20, 2010United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: MAN'S DEATH SENTENCE OVERTURNED
in the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Federal Supreme Court overturned the 2007 death sentence against American national Shahid King Poliss for murdering German businessman Martin Herbert Steiner, 48, in June 2006.
- APRIL 8, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The crimeandconsequences.com blog published the following opinion, critical with the “innocence list”.
USA - The crimeandconsequences.com blog published the following opinion, critical with the “innocence list”.
- MARCH 10, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Judge J. Michael Hunter sentenced Gary Michael Glisson, and Eric Rodriguez to life without parole.
USA - Florida. Judge J. Michael Hunter sentenced Gary Michael Glisson, and Eric Rodriguez to life without parole.
FEBRUARY 17, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: NORTH CAROLINA MAN EXONERATED AFTER 17 YEARS
The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission frees Gregory Taylor, 47, white, who was sentenced to
FEBRUARY 4, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: OBAMA DENOUNCES ANTI-GAY BILL IN UGANDA AS 'ODIOUS'
President Barack Obama denounced as "odious" a proposed anti-gay law in Uganda that calls for the
JANUARY 20, 2010United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS EXECUTION OF MAN WITH CHILD'S IQ
The US Supreme Court upheld a death sentence against a convicted murderer,
- JANUARY 1, 2010United 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 17, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Death Penalty Information Center has publisher the "Year Report"
USA - Death Penalty Information Center has publisher the "Year Report"
- DECEMBER 8, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: NEW EXECUTION METHOD IS USED IN OHIO
a convicted killer in Ohio became the first person in the United States to be executed with a one-drug intravenous lethal injection. The new method, which involved a large dose of anesthetic, akin to how animals are euthanized, has been hailed by most ex
- NOVEMBER 21, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - New York. Poll finds broad support among New Yorkers for death penalty in Khalid Shaikh Mohammed terror case
USA - New York. Poll finds broad support among New Yorkers for death penalty in Khalid Shaikh Mohammed terror case
- NOVEMBER 10, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: WASHINGTON SNIPER IS PUT TO DEATH
The man behind the 2002 sniper attacks in and around Washington DC was executed after a final appeal was thrown out. John Allen Muhammad's lawyers say he was mentally ill, but Virginia Governor Tim Kaine rejected a plea for clemency.
OCTOBER 28, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTYEU AND US SEAL EXTRADITION PACT
The United States and European Union signed an extradition agreement that allows EU nations to refuse to
- OCTOBER 23, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
EU WILL NOT EXTRADITE SUSPECTS WHO FACE DEATH PENALTY IN US
The European Union finalized an extradition deal with the United States that excludes suspects who may
- OCTOBER 20, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Doing away with capital punishment can potentially save states in the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to a new DPIC study
USA - Doing away with capital punishment can potentially save states in the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to a new DPIC study
- OCTOBER 13, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - FBI Uniform Crime Report Finds Murder Rates Declined in 2008
USA - FBI Uniform Crime Report Finds Murder Rates Declined in 2008
- OCTOBER 13, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Gallup Poll: most Americans still back death penalty
USA - Gallup Poll: most Americans still back death penalty
OCTOBER 6, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: NO DEATH PENALTY FOR US EMBASSY BOMB SUSPECT
The U.S. government has decided not to seek the death penalty against a Guantanamo detainee charged in
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - New Death Row Database Now Available
USA - New Death Row Database Now Available
SEPTEMBER 18, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: LINDA CARTY FACES EXECUTION AFTER LOSING APPEAL
Linda Carty, a British citizen on Death Row in Texas, USA, could be executed within months after having
- JULY 22, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Innocence Project has released a new report pointing to the problems with eyewitness identifications
USA - The Innocence Project has released a new report pointing to the problems with eyewitness identifications
- JULY 21, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The European Union criticises US over death penalty
USA - The European Union criticises US over death penalty
- JULY 20, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Senate passed 4 amendments to the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, including a provision that would allow the death penalty
USA - The Senate passed 4 amendments to the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, including a provision that would allow the death penalty
MAY 14, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: 2 CONVICTED KILLERS EXECUTED IN OKLAHOMA, ALABAMA
A man convicted of battering his girlfriend's 8-year-old son and stuffing the body in a freezer was put to death in Oklahoma, while a man in Alabama was executed for fatally stabbing a mother of six.
- APRIL 20, 2009CzechiaDEATH PENALTY
the US and EU Justice and Internal Ministers met in Prague...
the US and EU Justice and Internal Ministers met in Prague, the Czech Republic, where they signed an Extradition Accord on reciprocal justice.
- APRIL 7, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Overall number of people on death rows decreases
USA - Overall number of people on death rows decreases
- APRIL 6, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid today for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal
USA - Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid today for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal
APRIL 6, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: SUPREME COURT REJECTS ABU-JAMAL'S BID FOR NEW TRIAL
Death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his bid for a new trial in the killing of a city police officer after the U.S. Supreme Court said that it will not take up the case.