Death Row

Death Row Overview

Around 2,250 prisoners currently face execution in the United States. The national death-row population has declined for 20 consecutive years, as sentence reversals, executions, and deaths by other causes are outpacing new death sentences.

DPIC Page: Conditions on Death Row

DPIC Page: Conditions on Death Row

Includes information such as the length of time prisoners spend on death row

DPIC Page: Racial Demographics

DPIC Page: Racial Demographics

Racial demographics of death-row prisoners

DPIC Report: The 2% Death Penalty

DPIC Report: The 2% Death Penalty

How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All

DPIC Page: Sentencing Data

DPIC Page: Sentencing Data

Information on new death sentences

Source: Death Row Population Figures from NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. ​“DEATH ROW USA” (As of July 1, 2024).

* Figures include per­sons whose death sen­tences have been over­turned but who still face the pos­si­bil­i­ty of being re-sen­tenced to death after a new tri­al or new sen­tenc­ing hear­ing. The num­ber of pris­on­ers in the U.S. fac­ing active death sen­tences is lower.

** The state-by-state total of indi­vid­u­als on death row is greater than the nation­al total because three pris­on­ers are sen­tenced to death in two dif­fer­ent states.
 

“I miss the stars. You know, I haven’t seen the stars in years and years and years. I miss the rain. I miss food. I miss all these things. But what it comes down to the most — and this is the thing that will scar me the most and that I’ll car­ry with me as a scar the longest — the thing I miss the most is being treat­ed like a human being.” 

—CNN inter­view with Damien Echols on Arkansas death row since 1993
(Jan. 13, 2011) (released August 2011).

News & Developments

News

May 22, 2023

Death Row USA Summer 2022 Report: Death-Row Population Continues Long-Term Decline

The num­ber of peo­ple sen­tenced to death or fac­ing the pos­si­bil­i­ty of a death sen­tence in pend­ing cap­i­tal retri­al or resen­tenc­ing pro­ceed­ings con­tin­ued its more than two-decade decline in the third quar­ter of last year, accord­ing to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) Summer 2022 quar­ter­ly cen­sus of death rows across the United…

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News

Feb 09, 2022

Death Row USA Fall 2021 Report: Death-Row Population Continues Long-Term Decline

The num­ber of peo­ple sen­tenced to death or fac­ing con­tin­u­ing jeop­ardy of exe­cu­tion in pend­ing cap­i­tal retri­al or resen­tenc­ing pro­ceed­ings con­tin­ued its more than two-decade decline in the third quar­ter of 2021, accord­ing to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) Fall 2021 quar­ter­ly cen­sus of death rows across the United…

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News

Dec 29, 2021

Death Row USA Summer 2021 Report: Fewest Death-Sentenced Prisoners in Three Decades Face Continuing Jeopardy of Execution

Fewer peo­ple were on death rows across the United States as of July 1, 2021 or faced con­tin­u­ing jeop­ardy of exe­cu­tion in pend­ing cap­i­tal retri­al or resen­tenc­ing pro­ceed­ings than at any oth­er time in more than three decades, accord­ing to data com­piled by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) and ana­lyzed by the Death Penalty Information…

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