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
- 1,047
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 1,047 news items on United States, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JANUARY 16, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA Dustin Higgs was executed at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana
He was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. EST on January 16.
JANUARY 16, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Corey Johnson died an "excruciatingly painful death"
felt like drowning for 20 minutes
- JANUARY 14, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. Corey Johnson was executed
lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana
JANUARY 13, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Lisa Montgomery was executed.
The woman was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. Wednesday
- JANUARY 12, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal judge grants Lisa Montgomery a stay of execution
pending a competency hearing
- JANUARY 12, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Second suspension of the execution of Lisa Montgomery
ordered by the DC Court of Appeals
JANUARY 9, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Montgomery Not Competent For Execution
Petition in federal court in Indiana
JANUARY 8, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Judge puts restrictions on federal executions
Bureau can proceed only if it shows it is taking certain COVID precautions
JANUARY 7, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Dustin Higgs Case To Be Heard 12 Days After Scheduled Execution Date
Uncertainties over execution protocol
DECEMBER 30, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Samuel Little died. He was serving life sentences
The FBI has called Little "the most prolific serial killer in the history of the United States"
- DECEMBER 29, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Architects against the construction of torture sites and death chambers.
USA - Architects against the construction of torture sites and death chambers.
DECEMBER 29, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Ohio. Romell Broom, who survived execution attempt, dies. COVID suspected.
USA - Ohio. Romell Broom, who survived execution attempt, dies. COVID suspected.
- DECEMBER 26, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. Stay of Lisa Montgomery’s execution.
USA - Federal. Stay of Lisa Montgomery’s execution.
- DECEMBER 23, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Published the latest edition of "Death Row USA", updated to 1 October 2020
2,553 death row prisoners.
DECEMBER 16, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Death Penalty Information Center “Year End Report”
USA - Death Penalty Information Center “Year End Report”
DECEMBER 11, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alfred Bourgeois was executed in the Terre Haute federal penitentiary
It is the last execution of the year in the United States, the 17th.
- DECEMBER 11, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Military. Death sentences imposed on Major Nidal Hasan upheld
USA - Military. Death sentences imposed on Major Nidal Hasan upheld
DECEMBER 10, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Brandon Bernard, 40, Black, was executed.
USA - Federal. Brandon Bernard, 40, Black, was executed.
DECEMBER 10, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - 8 Federal Execution Team Members Test Positive for COVID-19 After Orlando Hall Execution.
USA - 8 Federal Execution Team Members Test Positive for COVID-19 After Orlando Hall Execution.
DECEMBER 9, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - "Death Penalty Action": Voices of Opposition to Federal Executions Grow Louder
USA - "Death Penalty Action": Voices of Opposition to Federal Executions Grow Louder
- DECEMBER 9, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 49,883 inmateshad tested positive, and at least 1,657 prisoners have died from the coronavirus
USA - 49,883 inmateshad tested positive, and at least 1,657 prisoners have died from the coronavirus
- DECEMBER 4, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Intellectually Disabled Defendants of Color, Foreign Nationals Disproportionately Subject to the Death Penalty.
USA - Intellectually Disabled Defendants of Color, Foreign Nationals Disproportionately Subject to the Death Penalty.
- NOVEMBER 25, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Trump administration is trying to bring back firing squads and electrocutions
USA - The Trump administration is trying to bring back firing squads and electrocutions
NOVEMBER 24, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Gallup Poll: Public Support for the Death Penalty Lowest in a Half-Century.
USA - Gallup Poll: Public Support for the Death Penalty Lowest in a Half-Century.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Kim Kardashian visits death row inmate Julius Jones.
USA - Oklahoma. Kim Kardashian visits death row inmate Julius Jones.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - 1,450 inmates and 98 agents died of Covid-19 in US prisons.
USA - 1,450 inmates and 98 agents died of Covid-19 in US prisons.
- NOVEMBER 19, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Judge Delays Federal Execution Of Lisa Montgomery
USA - Judge Delays Federal Execution Of Lisa Montgomery
NOVEMBER 19, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Orlando Hall Was Executed In Federal Prison.
USA - Orlando Hall Was Executed In Federal Prison.
NOVEMBER 13, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Lawyers for Lisa Montgomery Contract COVID-19 During Prison Visits, Seek Stay of Execution.
USA - Federal. Lawyers for Lisa Montgomery Contract COVID-19 During Prison Visits, Seek Stay of Execution.
NOVEMBER 12, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Bill Pelke, a pioneer of US abolitionism, and a friend of Hands Off Cain, died.
USA - Bill Pelke, a pioneer of US abolitionism, and a friend of Hands Off Cain, died.