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 Year-End Reports
Dec 10, 2008
Executions resumed in 2008 after a de facto moratorium was effectively lifted by the Supreme Court following its decision upholding lethal injection. But only the South returned to regular executions, accounting for 95% of executions carried out in the country in 2008. The 115 sentences in 2007 was the lowest number since the death penalty was…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 17, 2007
New Jersey’s action follows the removal of the last person from New York’s death row in 2007, the final step in removing New York from the list of death penalty states, which now numbers 36. New York’s high court overturned the death penalty in 2004, and after public hearings, the legislature rejected attempts to restore the punishment.
DPIC In-Depth Reports
Jun 09, 2007
Most Americans believe that innocent people have already been executed, that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, and that a moratorium should be placed on all executions. Even among those who support the death penalty and believe they would be qualified to serve on a capital jury, the risk of convicting or executing the innocent would…
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 14, 2006
The number of death sentences and the size of death row are also decreasing.
DPIC Year-End Reports
Dec 15, 2005
The year 2005 may be remembered as the year that life without parole became an acceptable alternative to the death penalty in the U.S. The declining use of the death penalty in 2005 extended the steady drop in death sentences and in the size of the death row in recent years. The projection for 2005 is 96 death sentences (based on data from 3/4 of…
