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.
DPIC In-Depth Reports
May 01, 1994
The rest of the country should heed the warning of the Texas experience before it embarks on a wholesale expansion of the death penalty. The death penalty in Texas is in a state of crisis. And the costs of the death penalty in Texas are in the hundreds of millions of dollars with no end in sight. During the period when Texas rose to become the…
DPIC In-Depth Reports
Mar 01, 1994
Analysis of prosecutions under the federal death penalty provisions of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 [2] reveals that 89% of the defendants selected for capital prosecution have been either African-American or Mexican-American.
DPIC In-Depth Reports
Dec 31, 1993
A recent national poll found that the number one issue raising doubts among voters regarding the death penalty is the danger of a mistaken execution.[1] Fifty-eight percent of voters are disturbed that the death penalty might allow an innocent person to be executed.Earlier this year, the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights heard…
DPIC In-Depth Reports
Apr 01, 1993
Contrary to the conventional wisdom that Americans wholeheartedly support the death penalty, the latest national opinion poll released in conjunction with this report shows that more people in this country would prefer alternative sentences that guarantee both protection and punishment over the death penalty. Death penalty support becomes a…
DPIC In-Depth Reports
May 01, 1992
“Them without the capital get the punishment” is a well-worn phrase among those who have studied the unequal application of the death penalty in America. While already inadequate funding for indigent defense programs is being slashed across the nation in the face of shrinking state budgets, Pennsylvania provides no funds at all for such…
