On December 20, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released its annu­al set of sta­tis­ti­cal tables on the death penal­ty in the United States, cov­er­ing infor­ma­tion for 2010. Hightlights from the report include: 
‑The aver­age time spent on death row for those exe­cut­ed in 2010 was longer than for any pre­vi­ous year since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976. The aver­age time between sen­tenc­ing and exe­cu­tion for those exe­cut­ed in 2010 was 14.8 years. 
‑During 2010, 119 inmates were removed from death row: 53 had their sen­tences or con­vic­tions over­turned or were grant­ed com­mu­ta­tions; 20 died by means oth­er than exe­cu­tion; and 46 (38%) were executed. 
‑At the close of 2010, there were 388 Hispanics on death row, account­ing for 12% of the nation’s death row pop­u­la­tion. ‑Four states (California, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania) account­ed for more than 50% of all inmates on death row. 
‑Of the 7,879 inmates sen­tenced to death between 1977 and 2010, 16% have been exe­cut­ed. Six per­cent (6%) died by caus­es oth­er than exe­cu­tion, and 39% even­tu­al­ly received other dispositions. 

(Bureau of Justice Statistics, Capital Punishment, 2010 — Statistical Tables, December 20, 2011). For infor­ma­tion on the death penal­ty in 2011, see DPIC’s Year End Report. See Death Row, Sentencing and Studies.

Citation Guide