DPIC Year-End Reports

The num­ber of exe­cu­tions in 1998 declined slight­ly from the record num­ber in 1997. As of December 18, there were 68 exe­cu­tions in the U.S., down from 74 peo­ple exe­cut­ed last year (no more are sched­uled this year). About half of the exe­cu­tions occurred in two states: Texas and Virginia. The total num­ber of exe­cu­tions in the U.S. since 1976 reached 500. The num­ber of peo­ple on death row again moved to a record high and now stands at 3,517, though the Bureau of Justice Statistics report­ed a 19% drop…

The num­ber of exe­cu­tions in 1997 eas­i­ly sur­passed the high­est fig­ure for any year since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976. As of December 15, 1997, there were 74 exe­cu­tions in the coun­try this year, 18 more than in 1995, the pre­vi­ous record year. The last time more peo­ple were exe­cut­ed in a sin­gle year in the United States was 1955, when 76 peo­ple were exe­cut­ed. The exe­cu­tions this year brought the over­all total since the rein­state­ment of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment to 432. The nation­al death row pop­u­la­tion also reached…

The over­all pace of exe­cu­tions in the United States remained high in 1996 and the prospects for the future are for even greater num­bers of peo­ple put to death each year. As of December 17, there were 45 exe­cu­tions, most­ly by lethal injec­tion. This rep­re­sents a slight drop from last year when 56 exe­cu­tions rep­re­sent­ed the high­est num­ber since cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was rein­stat­ed in 1976. The 20% decrease in exe­cu­tions this year was prob­a­bly due to the pas­sage of numer­ous fed­er­al and state laws designed to speed up exe­cu­tions. Some…

Executions in the United States are reach­ing record num­bers. Even with­out the most recent wave of attempts to cur­tail death row appeals, the num­ber of peo­ple put to death has been steadi­ly ris­ing. Contrary to the pop­u­lar mis­con­cep­tion that death row inmates are grant­ed ​“end­less appeals,” there have been 313 exe­cu­tions since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976. This year alone there have been 56 exe­cu­tions, more than any oth­er year in the mod­ern era.