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 Special Reports
Mar 23, 2017
On February 27, 2017, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed orders for an unprecedented eight executions to be carried out over a period of eleven days in April. We looked into this and found that, since states resumed executions in the 1970s, no state has ever executed eight prisoners in eleven days. Only four states have carried out multiple…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 21, 2016
(Washington, D.C.) Death sentences, executions, and public support for capital punishment all continued historic declines in 2016. American juries imposed the fewest death sentences in the modern era of U.S. capital punishment, since the Supreme Court declared existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972. The 20 executions this year…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 15, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDeath Penalty Use in 2015 Declines SharplyFewest Executions, Fewest Death Sentences, and Fewest States Employing the Death Penalty in Decades(Washington, D.C.) The use of the death penalty in the U.S. The 28 executions this year marked the lowest number since 1991, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty…
DPIC In-Depth Reports
Nov 10, 2015
PTSD has affected an enormous number of veterans returning from combat zones. Over 800,000 Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD. Perhaps even more surprising, when many of these veterans faced death penalty trials, their service and related illnesses were barely touched on as their lives were being weighed by judges and juries. Despite being given…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 18, 2014
DEATH PENALTY 2014: FEWEST EXECUTIONS IN 20 YEARSFEWEST DEATH SENTENCES IN 40 YEARS Seven Death Row Inmates Exonerated, Highest in Five Years. (Washington, D.C.) With 35 executions this year, 2014 marks the fewest people put to death since 1994, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The 72 new death…
