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
- 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
- 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