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 26, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Federal moratorium on executions (Senate)
Federal moratorium on executions (Senate)
- APRIL 8, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Rev. Pat Robertson, speaking at a symposium on religion...
Rev. Pat Robertson, speaking at a symposium on religion and the death penalty at the College of William and Mary, said: "I think a [death penalty] moratorium would indeed be very appropriate."
- MARCH 3, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Former counterculture guru Ira Einhorn, sheltering...
Former counterculture guru Ira Einhorn, sheltering in France to avoid serving a life term for murdering his girlfriend in America, said he was a symbol of all death row inmates in the U
- MARCH 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
January-March, 2000: Constitutionality of electric chair
January-March, 2000: Constitutionality of electric chair
- FEBRUARY 24, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Betty Lou Beets was executed in Texas, two weeks before...
Betty Lou Beets was executed in Texas, two weeks before her 63rd birthday, for the murder of her fifth husband
- FEBRUARY 24, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A Gallup Poll shows that although a majority of Americans...
A Gallup Poll shows that although a majority of Americans favor the death penalty, that percentage has been gradually decreasing and is now at 66%, its lowest level since 1981
- FEBRUARY 24, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
As representatives of the European Union, Joao da Rocha...
As representatives of the European Union, Joao da Rocha Paris, Ambassador of Portugal, Francois V
- FEBRUARY 11, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced the Innocence...
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced the Innocence Protection Act of 2000 in the U
- FEBRUARY 10, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Federal moratorium on executions (House)
Federal moratorium on executions (House)
- FEBRUARY 9, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Following this campaign the American states of Missouri...
Following this campaign the American states of Missouri and North Carolina decided to sue Benetton whilst the Sears chain of shops decided not to sell Benetton products following pressure from pro-death penalty groups
- JANUARY 31, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Moratorium on executions declared in Illinois
Moratorium on executions declared in Illinois
- JANUARY 19, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
According to an ABCNEWS
According to an ABCNEWS
- JANUARY 9, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Fashion giant Benetton joined Italy's offensive against...
Fashion giant Benetton joined Italy's offensive against the death penalty with its 2000 advertising campaign called "We, On Death Row
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
92 persons were freed from death row since 1973, 8 this year
92 persons were freed from death row since 1973, 8 this year
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In 2000, 14 states introduced pro-abolition or pro-moratorium...
In 2000, 14 states introduced pro-abolition or pro-moratorium bills, because of the high number of miscarriages of justice
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
There are currently 74 death row inmates (all male)...
There are currently 74 death row inmates (all male) sentenced as juveniles constituting about 2% of the total death row population
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The decline in support of the death penalty is mirrored...
The decline in support of the death penalty is mirrored in other 2000 polls in such states as Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Commutations in capital cases on humanitarian grounds
Commutations in capital cases on humanitarian grounds
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
About 90% of 2000 Executions in South
About 90% of 2000 Executions in South
- JANUARY 1, 2000United 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, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Five women have been executed in the United States...
Five women have been executed in the United States since the Supreme Court lifted a ban on the death penalty in 1976
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
United States voted against the resolution on the death...
United States voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- DECEMBER 6, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
On December 6, the National Jewish/Catholic Consultation,...
On December 6, the National Jewish/Catholic Consultation, a group co-sponsored by the National Council of Synagogues and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, issued a joint statement calling fo
- NOVEMBER 24, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
"Innocence and the Death Penalty: The Increasing Danger...
"Innocence and the Death Penalty: The Increasing Danger of Executing the Innocent," a July 1997 report by the Death Penalty Information Center, updated November 24, 1999, indicates that 84 people have been freed from death row since 1973 after evidence o
- NOVEMBER 10, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
On November 10, USA Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin,...
On November 10, USA Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, introduced a bill to abolish the federal death penalty and called on all states that impose the death penalty to cease the practice in their state
- OCTOBER 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In October, republican presidential candidate Andy...
In October, republican presidential candidate Andy Martin, who is on the ballot in New Hampshire, announced he would campaign in the 2000 presidential primaries asking Republican voters to reject the "culture of death" which is "executing our future with
- MAY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In May, 1999, the state of Illinois exonerated convicted...
In May, 1999, the state of Illinois exonerated convicted murderer Ronald Jones, the 3rd person freed from Illinois' death row in 1999, and the 12th since 1987
- APRIL 2, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
On April 2, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops for...
On April 2, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops for the first time made opposition to the death penalty an urgent priority, addressing the disparity between Catholics who tend to support capital punishment and their Pope, who strongly opposes it
- FEBRUARY 4, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Although international law prohibits the execution...
Although international law prohibits the execution of people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, on February 4, 1999, Oklahoma executed Sean Sellers, 29, for murders he committed when he was 16 years old
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A Gallup Poll taken in February, 1999, found that...
A Gallup Poll taken in February, 1999, found that 71% of those surveyed favored the death penalty for someone convicted of murder, while only 22% were against it