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
- 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
- JUNE 15, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
At her weekly Justice Department news briefing, U
At her weekly Justice Department news briefing, U
- JUNE 12, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Mistakes in capital cases
Mistakes in capital cases
- JUNE 10, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Raymond Forni, the speaker of France's National Assembly,...
Raymond Forni, the speaker of France's National Assembly, slammed the death penalty in the United States at a human rights conference
- MAY 31, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Under pressure from Washington to extradite Ira Einhorn,...
Under pressure from Washington to extradite Ira Einhorn, French legal authorities wanted to study the case more before deciding whether to propose that the Prime Minister sign the final extradition order
- MAY 19, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
New Hampshire to abolish the death penalty
New Hampshire to abolish the death penalty
- MAY 11, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno authorised federal...
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno authorised federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, one of the terrorists involved in the bombings of the U
- MAY 11, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Death penalty supporters became members of the National...
Death penalty supporters became members of the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions formed to address innocence and the death penalty
- MAY 2, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Christina Riggs, 28, a former nurse sentenced to death...
Christina Riggs, 28, a former nurse sentenced to death for smothering her two young children was executed in Arkansas
- MAY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Felix Rohatyn, the U
Felix Rohatyn, the U