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News and Developments 2005: Sentencing

DPIC Releases Year End Report

Posted: December 22, 2005
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DPIC RELEASES YEAR END REPORT
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The Death Penalty Information Center has released its annual report on the status of capital punishment in the U.S. at the end of 2005. The report notes a dramatic drop in death sentences to the lowest level in 30 years. The year showed an increasing reliance on the sentence of life-without-parole as an alternative to the death penalty.

NEW RESOURCE: Sentencing Project Examines Relationship Between Incarceration and Crime

Posted: November 17, 2005
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Incarceration and Crime: A Complex Relationship, a new report by The Sentencing Project, examines the financial and social costs of incarceration, and evaluates the limited effectiveness it has on crime rates. The report notes that the number of people incarcerated in the United States has risen by more than 500% over the past three decades, up from 330,000 people in 1972 to 2.1 million people today.

NEW RESOURCE: Justice Department Releases "Capital Punishment, 2004" Report

Posted: November 10, 2005
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The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its latest report on the status of the death penalty in the U.S., Capital Punishment, 2004, on November 13.  According to the report, the nation's death row population, executions, and the number of people given death sentences last year all declined. There were 3,315 people on state and federal death rows at the conclusion of 2004, 63 fewer than in 2003. Last year, 125 people were sentenced to death, the fewest since 1973. Twelve states executed 59 prisoners in 2004, six fewer than in 2003.

New York Times Series Examines Life Sentences

Posted: October 03, 2005
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A new study by a team of researchers at the New York Times looks at the expanding use of life sentences in the American criminal justice system.  The study, headed by Times reporter Adam Liptak, found that about 132,000 of the nation's prisoners, or almost 10%, are serving life sentences.  Of those, 28% have life sentences with no chance of parole. This is a marked increase from a 1993 Times study that found 20% of all lifers had no chance of parole. Liptak also reported that about 9,700 people are serving life sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles.

Arbitrariness: Prevalence of Plea Bargains in Death Penalty Cases

Posted: June 06, 2005
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In its recent study of Ohio's death penalty, the Associated Press found that of the 1,936 capital indictments filed statewide from 1981-2002, about 50% ended in plea bargains. Of those cases, 131 people who pleaded guilty in exchange for escaping the death penalty were charged with killing multiple victims. By contrast, 196 of the 274 people who were sentenced to death row during the same 21-year time span were convicted of killing a single victim. The AP's Ohio findings were similar to figures from other states and the federal government.

Death Sentences Decline in 2004

Posted: April 26, 2005
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DEATH SENTENCES AT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE REINSTATEMENT OF DEATH PENALTYsentences

Death Sentences by State: 2004, 2003, 1994

Year
2004
2003
1994
U.S. Total
125
144