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
- APRIL 19, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The US federal government must intervene with the states...
The US federal government must intervene with the states to ensure a review of the cases of foreigners - particularly Mexicans - sitting on death row, The New York Times said in an editorial
- APRIL 16, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Yu Zhendong, a man accused of the biggest embezzlement...
Yu Zhendong, a man accused of the biggest embezzlement in recent Chinese history, was extradited from Las Vegas to Beijing
- APRIL 14, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ruled in favour...
Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ruled in favour of denying any extradition request on the part of the United States that did not include a pledge not to sentence the extradited individual to life in prison
- APRIL 11, 2004United 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.
- APRIL 9, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Assured that accused murderer Paul Eduardovich Goldman...
Assured that accused murderer Paul Eduardovich Goldman would not face the death penalty in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a French court agreed to extradite him to the United States
- MARCH 11, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In Raleigh, an Army appeals court set aside the death...
In Raleigh, an Army appeals court set aside the death sentence of Army Sgt
- MARCH 2, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Mexican President Vicente Fox will complain to President...
Mexican President Vicente Fox will complain to President Bush about the pending execution in Oklahoma of a Mexican double murderer when the pair meet this weekend, Mexican officials said
- FEBRUARY 27, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Chinese authorities reprimanded the United States for...
Chinese authorities reprimanded the United States for what it called "double standards" on human rights, after the US State Department accused China of "backsliding on key human rights issues
- FEBRUARY 26, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Thailand's human rights credentials declined in 2003,...
Thailand's human rights credentials declined in 2003, the United States said in a blunt criticism over the kingdom's deadly war on drugs
- FEBRUARY 25, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The United States accused China's communist leaders...
The United States accused China's communist leaders of backsliding on their human rights record as arrests of democracy activists and extrajudicial killings continued apace during 2003
- FEBRUARY 17, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Senator John Kerry, who now seems close to winning...
Senator John Kerry, who now seems close to winning the Democratic nomination to run against President George Bush in the upcoming US presidential elections, declared himself for a moratorium because of "serious systemic flaws" in the country's death penal
- FEBRUARY 8, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair,...
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair, renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty
- JANUARY 11, 2004United StatesDEATH PENALTY
US Ambassador Harry K Thomas expressed concern at the...
US Ambassador Harry K Thomas expressed concern at the death sentence issued by a Dhaka court to Faisal Alam Ansary, a Bangladesh born US citizen, saying his trial had not been fair and impartial
- DECEMBER 26, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
(continued from above) In 1988, the Supreme Court prohibited...
(continued from above) In 1988, the Supreme Court prohibited the execution of defendants who were younger than 16 at the time of their crimes
- DECEMBER 26, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The decision by a Virginia jury to spare Lee Boyd Malvo's...
The decision by a Virginia jury to spare Lee Boyd Malvo's life after finding him guilty in the 2003 Washington-area sniper rampage may hasten a movement to abolish the death penalty for juvenile killers, legal experts say
- DECEMBER 23, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A jury in Chesapeake, Va
A jury in Chesapeake, Va
- DECEMBER 16, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Zayd Hassan Abd al-Latif Masud al Safarini pleaded...
Zayd Hassan Abd al-Latif Masud al Safarini pleaded guilty to 95 charges, including murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and agreed to a sentence of three consecutive life terms plus 25 years
- DECEMBER 15, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The United States would not object to Saddam Hussein...
The United States would not object to Saddam Hussein facing the death penalty in an upcoming trial if it is fairly conducted, a senior State Department official said
- DECEMBER 15, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Mexico accused the United States at an International...
Mexico accused the United States at an International Court of Justice hearing on of violating international law over its treatment of more than 50 Mexican nationals on death row
- DECEMBER 1, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether...
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether its decision that overturned the death penalty laws of five states 18 months ago should be applied retroactively
- NOVEMBER 25, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Australian officials said that the United States promised...
Australian officials said that the United States promised not to seek the death penalty against two Australian citizens being held at a detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with others captured during the war on terrorism
- NOVEMBER 5, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the House of...
In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives passed legislation to give death-row inmates greater access to DNA testing to prove their innocence
- OCTOBER 7, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Life In Prison Ruling Affirmed For 2 Death Penalty...
Life In Prison Ruling Affirmed For 2 Death Penalty Inmates---U
- OCTOBER 2, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Judge Leonie M
Judge Leonie M
- OCTOBER 1, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The Council of Europe lamented the lack of progress...
The Council of Europe lamented the lack of progress in efforts to persuade the United States and Japan to abolish the death penalty and again warned that their observer status at the pan-European rights body was at risk
- OCTOBER 1, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The Council of Europe lamented Wednesday the lack of...
The Council of Europe lamented Wednesday the lack of progress in efforts to persuade the United States and Japan to abolish the death penalty and again warned that their observer status at the pan-European rights body was at risk
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
By an 8 to 3 vote, an expanded panel of the San Francisco-based...
By an 8 to 3 vote, an expanded panel of the San Francisco-based U
- JULY 21, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A German court approved the extradition of Mohammed...
A German court approved the extradition of Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric, and his assistant, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, to face charges in the United States of supplying weapons, militants and millions of dollars in funding to the al-Qa
- JULY 9, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government...
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government was pressing Washington behind the scenes to ensure the planned trials of terrorism suspects jailed at Guantanamo Bay would not violate international law
- JULY 4, 2003United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The European Commission urged the United States on...
The European Commission urged the United States on to avoid applying the death penalty to six foreign captives designated by President George W