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
- 1,549
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 1,549 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 23, 2005MexicoDEATH PENALTYUSA. SUPREME COURT DISMISSES WORLD COURT DEATH ROW TEST CASE
the US Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Jose Medellin, a Mexican man facing execution in Texas, in a closely watched test-case on whether World Court rulings on capital cases apply to US courts.
MAY 23, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA. SHACKLED DEFENDANT'S RIGHTS VIOLATED, COURT RULES
the US Supreme Court ruled the US Constitution generally forbids the use of shackles for a defendant at a sentencing hearing to determine whether the death penalty will be imposed.
- MAY 17, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. AIMB DEMANDS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR US SOLDIERS WHO INSULTED KORAN
the All India Minority Board (AIMB) asked the US President George W Bush to award capital punishment to those soldiers who had insulted the holy Koran and seek public apology for their ''shameful acts''.
- MAY 17, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
a UK judge ruled that British national Babar Ahmad could be extradited to the US
a UK judge ruled that British national Babar Ahmad could be extradited to the US to face charges of soliciting support for terrorism and trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Arizona.
APRIL 29, 2005United States Armed ForcesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. AKBAR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING COMRADES
a US military jury sentenced Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for killing two officers in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in Kuwait two years ago
- APRIL 27, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
many Americans are in favour of capital punishment,
many Americans are in favour of capital punishment,
APRIL 26, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. DEATH SENTENCES FALL TO RECORD LOW SINCE 1976, THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
the number of people sentenced to death last year in the United States fell to the lowest level since the US Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976.
- APRIL 24, 2005FranceDEATH PENALTY
FRANCE. FAMILY HOPE MOUSSAOUI CAN AVOID DEATH PENALTY
Francois Roux, a French lawyer advising the family of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States over the September 11 attacks, said his family still hoped he would avoid the death penalty. Roux said that although Moussaoui had plead
- APRIL 22, 2005FranceDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA, USA. 9/11 SUSPECT FACES DEATH PENALTY AFTER PLEADING GUILTY
Zacarias Moussaoui, the man who investigators believed could have unraveled the al-Qaida plot before the September 11 2001 attacks, pleaded guilty to terrorism and other charges carrying the death penalty.
- APRIL 20, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 18, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
US. NO DEATH PENALTY FOR UK TERROR SUSPECT
the United States Government provided a written assurance that a British terror suspect Babar Ahmad would not face the death penalty if he was extradited to face trial there.
- APRIL 14, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. LETHAL INJECTION EXECUTION 'CRUEL', RESEARCHERS
American researchers have called for a halt to lethal injection, the most common method of execution in the United States, because it is not always a humane and painless way to die.
APRIL 13, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTYNACDL. 2005 SPRING MEETING AND THE DEATH PENALTY
the NACDL's Spring Meeting will be held in New York from April 14 to April 17, 2005. An important occasion to be involved in the ever-expanding International Criminal Law arena.
- MARCH 26, 2005BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. US TO SEEK RELEASE OF BULGARIAN NURSES
the US promised to do all it could to persuade Libya to free five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death on charges they injected the virus that causes AIDS into 400 children.
MARCH 23, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTYTERRI SCHIAVO. THE VATICAN IS FUNDAMENTALIST ON EVERYTHING BUT THE DEATH PENALTY
the definitive ‘No’ by the Vatican on the question of euthanasia, does not correspond to its definitive ‘No’ against the death penalty,” declared Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio D’Elia, in a dispute with the Vatican which had written in its daily, the Oss
MARCH 21, 2005FranceDEATH PENALTYUSA. GOVERNMENT URGES JUDGE TO SET DATE FOR MOUSSAOUI TRIAL
the US government asked a federal judge to set an October start date for the much-delayed trial of accused September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
MARCH 21, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA. CATHOLIC BISHOPS CAMPAIGN AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
US Catholic bishops launched a campaign against the death penalty and presented new data suggesting support for capital punishment among American Catholics had fallen sharply in recent years to below 50 percent. Washington Archbishop Theodore McCarrick to
- MARCH 16, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. “I STILL SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY”, BUSH
in a news conference President Bush urged stated his support for the death penalty. The following is a transcript of his remarks:
- MARCH 7, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA. BUSH ADMINISTRATION QUITS PACT USED IN CAPITAL CASES
the Bush administration decided to pull out of an international agreement that opponents of the death penalty have used to fight the sentences of foreigners on death row in the United States, officials said.
- MARCH 4, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
UNITED KINGDOM. BRITON 'MAY FACE EXECUTION' IF EXTRADITED TO US
Babar Ahmad, a British terrorist suspect, could face the death penalty or imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay if extradited to the US, his lawyers said.
MARCH 4, 2005MexicoDEATH PENALTYUS. BUSH ORDERS COURTS TO GIVE FOREIGN NATIONALS ON DEATH ROW FURTHER REVIEW
the White House has ordered state courts to consider the complaints of 51 Mexican foreign nationals on death row in the United States, International Herald Tribune reported.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. US STATE ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN 2004 DENOUNCES SUMMARY EXECUTIONS
the United States on Monday kept up its feud with Syria and Iran, blasting their regimes as represseive and their human rights records as fraught with abuses ranging from arbitrary arrest to torture.
- DECEMBER 17, 2004SpainDEATH PENALTY
SPAIN – US. EXTRADITION AGREEMENT SIGNED
Justice Minister Juan Fernando López Aguilar and United States Attorney General John Ashcroft on December 17 reinforced cooperation on the fight against crime and terrorism, with the signing of an agreement covering extradition and mutual legal assistance
- DECEMBER 9, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
a court in Rome is holding up a decision on whether to extradite...
a court in Rome is holding up a decision on whether to extradite...
- NOVEMBER 14, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
the number of people sentenced to death reached a 30-year low in 2003
the number of people sentenced to death reached a 30-year low in 2003
- OCTOBER 27, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has urged U.S. House and Senate conferees...
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has urged U.S. House and Senate conferees...
- OCTOBER 27, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
in Rome, 2 ex-death row convicts later found to be innocent appealed in Rome for...
in Rome, 2 ex-death row convicts later found to be innocent appealed in Rome for...
- OCTOBER 13, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Justices Address Teen Executions
Justices Address Teen Executions
- OCTOBER 9, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Congress passed and sent legislation to President Bush...
Congress passed and sent legislation to President Bush that would give rape victims and convicted felons greater access to DNA testing
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
US death penalty opponents hope that Democrat John Kerry, a former prosecutor...
US death penalty opponents hope that Democrat John Kerry, a former prosecutor...