The Death Penalty Information Center has updat­ed its Death Penalty Census, a data­base of every death sen­tence imposed since 1972. The data­base now con­tains infor­ma­tion accu­rate as of January 1, 2022, inclu­sive of the 50th year of the mod­ern death penal­ty. The Census con­tains infor­ma­tion on 9,820 death sen­tences imposed on 8,842 defen­dants. It includes the name, race, and gen­der of each defen­dant, along with the region, state, coun­ty, and year in which the sen­tence was imposed.

When it was launched in 2022, the Census includ­ed avail­able data through January 1, 2021. With the addi­tion of one year of data, it now includes all death sen­tences imposed through January 1, 2022, as well as the out­come of death sen­tences and cur­rent case sta­tus­es as of that date. The update added 21 new death sen­tences imposed in 2021, three exon­er­a­tions that took place that year, and numer­ous updates regard­ing sen­tence rever­sals, deaths on death row, resen­tences, and oth­er changes to the sta­tus of cases.

In addi­tion to the new data, DPIC has also cre­at­ed a short video tuto­r­i­al on using the Census. DPIC wel­comes cor­rec­tions and addi­tions to the data­base at DeathPenaltyCensus@​deathpenaltyinfo.​org

Citation Guide