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
- 1,546
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 1,546 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
- FEBRUARY 15, 2001United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Religious leaders in the South and around the nation...
Religious leaders in the South and around the nation are speaking out against capital punishment more loudly than ever, emboldened by a shift in public opinion and cases of innocence on death row
- JANUARY 31, 2001United StatesDEATH PENALTY
On the 1st anniversary of Illinois' death penalty moratorium,...
On the 1st anniversary of Illinois' death penalty moratorium, Wisconsin Sen
- JANUARY 1, 2001United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In the USA there are 38 retentionist states (of which...
In the USA there are 38 retentionist states (of which at least 35 have very active death penalty dockets), 11 circuits with many federal district courts in each circuit all handling death penalty cases, all making law, some in conflict with others
- JANUARY 1, 2001United StatesDEATH PENALTY
May: a gallup Poll found that nationwide support for...
May: a gallup Poll found that nationwide support for the death penalty had fallen to 65% a significant 15% decline from 1994, and the lowest support in 23 years
- JANUARY 1, 2001United StatesDEATH PENALTY
October: a gallup Poll following the September 11th...
October: a gallup Poll following the September 11th terrorist attacks on the USA founf that, within the margin of error of the poll, support for the death penalty (68%) had not measurably increased
- DECEMBER 18, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, upon receiving 3
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, upon receiving 3
- DECEMBER 17, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
December 17-18, 2000: An investigative series by the...
December 17-18, 2000: An investigative series by the Chicago Tribune examined the cases of four death row inmates who were executed despite evidence of their innocence
- DECEMBER 11, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A poll of potential jurors by The National Law Journal...
A poll of potential jurors by The National Law Journal and Decision Quest found that recent exonerations of death row inmates, both by DNA and outside investigations, have made 31% of potential voters more inclined to vote for life imprisonment instead of
- NOVEMBER 20, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In a letter delivered to the White House, religious,...
In a letter delivered to the White House, religious, civil rights, and political leaders urged President Clinton to declare a moratorium on federal executions
- NOVEMBER 15, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The U
The U
- NOVEMBER 13, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held public...
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held public hearings in the case Germany v
- NOVEMBER 9, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Miguel Flores was executed in Texas despite protests...
Miguel Flores was executed in Texas despite protests from the Mexican government and European Union that Texas authorities violated the article 36 of the Vienna Convention in failing to inform Flores, a Mexican national, of his right to consular assistanc
- NOVEMBER 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
First Federal Execution Delayed
First Federal Execution Delayed
- OCTOBER 27, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Death sentence for Texas defendant represented by sleeping...
Death sentence for Texas defendant represented by sleeping lawyer
- OCTOBER 26, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A preliminary report of the Grassroots Investigation...
A preliminary report of the Grassroots Investigation Project of Equal Justice USA highlights the cases of 16 individuals who were executed despite evidence of their innocence
- OCTOBER 24, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Prominent U
Prominent U
- OCTOBER 21, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Several hundred European politicians, lawmakers and...
Several hundred European politicians, lawmakers and international activists gathered in Paris on Saturday to urge the United States to abolish the death penalty
- OCTOBER 12, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The ABA held a conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta...
The ABA held a conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta to again urge attorneys, judges, and policymakers to support a moratorium on executions
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Murder rates and death penalty
Murder rates and death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In an "open letter to the people of the United States...
In an "open letter to the people of the United States of America," Mrs
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A bi-partisan group of Senators and Representatives...
A bi-partisan group of Senators and Representatives released the results of a 802 voters poll by Peter Hart Research and American Viewpoint showing: 64% of Americans support a moratorium on executions until issues of fairness in capital punishment can be
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Racial and geographic disparities in the death penalty
Racial and geographic disparities in the death penalty
- AUGUST 2, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A Harris poll found that support for the death penalty...
A Harris poll found that support for the death penalty dropped to 64% this year, down from 75% in 1997 and 71% in 1999
- JULY 27, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The European Union, in a demarche made at the White...
The European Union, in a demarche made at the White House with President Clinton's Chief Counsel Beth Nolan, called on the federal authorities not to break a de facto moratorium on the federal death penalty of almost forty years and to grant Mr
- JULY 27, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A nation-wide NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll found...
A nation-wide NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll found that, in light of the many innocent inmates released from death row, 63% of voters favored a suspension of the death penalty until questions about its fairness can be studied
- JULY 11, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The American Bar Association's new President, Martha...
The American Bar Association's new President, Martha Barnett, urged the legal profession to support a moratorium on executions
- JUNE 30, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that only a slim...
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that only a slim majority (51%) of Americans believe the death penalty is applied fairly
- JUNE 23, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Gary Graham was executed by the state of Texas, despite...
Gary Graham was executed by the state of Texas, despite claims that he was innocent
- JUNE 23, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
United States prosecutors were given permission by the U
United States prosecutors were given permission by the U
- JUNE 21, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Al Gore interjected himself Wednesday into the death-penalty...
Al Gore interjected himself Wednesday into the death-penalty maelstrom surrounding Republican rival George W