DPIC Reports
Below are reports released by the Death Penalty Information Center since its inception, covering subjects such as race, innocence, politicization, costs of the death penalty, and more. When opening a report, please allow the report page to load fully before selecting links to sections or footnotes. Most of these reports are also available in printed form from DPIC. For a copy of one of these reports, e-mail DPIC. For bulk orders, please download our Resource Order Form.
Reports are separated into Year End Reports, In-Depth Reports, and Special Reports. In-Depth Reports are DPIC's signature long, thorough reports on major death-penalty issues. These include "The 2% Death Penalty," examining geographic arbitrariness in capital punishment, and "Behind the Curtain," covering secrecy in the death penalty system. Special Reports are shorter, and typically address a specific event or question. These include DPIC's explanation of the 2017 spate of executions that were scheduled in Arkansas, and our analysis of the largest number of executions performed on a single day.
Featured
DPIC Special Report: The Innocence Epidemic
In 1993, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights conducted hearings on what was then a relatively unknown question: How significant was the risk that innocent people were being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in the United States. That research — undertaken before the availability of the internet — uncovered 48 cases in which a wrongfully convicted person had been released from death row…
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DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 16, 2022
The Death Penalty in 2022: Year End Report
Note: In March 2023, DPIC learned of one additional death sentence that was imposed in 2022: Leo Boatman, a white male defendant, was sentenced to death on November 9, 2022 in Bradford County, Florida, for the murder of Billy Chapman, a white male
DPIC Special Reports
Oct 14, 2022
Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty
Furthermore, Oklahoma’s planned executions are scheduled to move forward despite evidence that there are serious problems with Oklahoma’s death penalty that the state has done little to address. Death penalty cases in Oklahoma have garnered significant media attention in recent years, providing the public with tangible examples of systemic issues…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 16, 2021
The Death Penalty in 2021: Year End Report
Key Findings Virginia becomes 23rd state, and first in the South, to abolish the death penalty Seventh consecutive year with fewer than 30 executions and 50 new death sentences New study finds one exoneration for every 8.3 executions Federal execution spree ends, new administration halts all federal executions and announces policy review
