Facts & Research
Student Research Center
What is the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)?
DPIC is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment. The Center was founded in 1990 and prepares in-depth reports, issues press releases, conducts briefings for journalists, and serves as a resource to those working on this issue. The Center is widely quoted and consulted by all those concerned with the death penalty.
What is DPIC’s stance on the death penalty?
The Death Penalty Information Center does not have a position on the death penalty in the abstract. We do not address the death penalty as a moral issue. Instead, we try to educate the public about how the death penalty works in practice. We have been critical through our research and reports of various aspects of the death penalty in the United States.
Does DPIC grant interviews?
Although we cannot respond to student requests for opinions and views, we do have a comprehensive collection of factual information on our Web site. If there is specific information you cannot find, please e-mail us.
How do I cite information from DPIC’s Web site in my research?
Unless otherwise noted, the “Death Penalty Information Center” can be considered the author of the information or quote used. In almost all cases, a source and date are given for information on our Web site. If no source is listed, then the information can be attributed to the Death Penalty Information Center. Most charts and graphs were created by DPIC, sometimes using outside information, and can be attributed to DPIC. If you need more information about our staff see Staff and Board of Directors.
Arbitrariness
Does the death penalty punish the worst of the worst offenders? How are cases chosen for death penalty prosecution? Is someone more likely to get the death penalty because of their race or gender? Does the use of the death penalty vary by county or city?
- Arbitrariness by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts Episode One: Arbitrariness
- “The Death Penalty is Arbitrary and Unfair” by Amnesty International
- R. Smith, “As arbitrary as ever,” Second Class Justice, October 17, 2010 (DPIC Summary)
- ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report, September 2007 (DPIC Summary)
- American Civil Liberties Union, “Scattered Justice: Geographic Disparities of the Death Penalty,” March 5, 2004
- J. Blume, T. Eisenberg, and M. Wells, “Explaining Death Row’s Population and Racial Composition,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Volume 1, Issue 1, 165-207, March 2004
- S. Gross, “Still Unfair, Still Arbitrary - But Do We Care?, Keynote Address,” 26 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 517 (2000)
- B. Steiner, “Still Arbitrary: Capital Sentencing in the Post-Furman Era,” 10 Crim. Just. Policy Rev. 85 (1999)
- M. Burkhead & J. Luginbuhl, “Sources of Bias and Arbitrariness In The Capital Trial,” 50 J. Soc. Issues 103 (1994)
Costs
Does execution or life imprisonment cost more? Does it cost more per day to keep a person on death row than in a regular cell?
- Costs of the Death Penalty by DPIC
- Millions Misspent: What Politicians Don’t Say About the High Costs of the Death Penalty by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts: Episode Three: Costs
- N. Minsker et al., “Death in Decline ‘09,” ACLU of Northern California, March 29, 2010. (DPIC Summary)
- J. Warren, “Expose Hits Hard at Death Penalty System,” Chicago News Cooperative, reported in the N.Y. Times, November 13, 2010. (DPIC Summary)
- S. Brown, “The death penalty: Worth the cost?” NWI Times, July 4, 2010 (DPIC Summary)
- Tempest, Rone. “Death Row Often Means a Long Life; California Condemns Many Murderers, but Few are ever Executed.” Los Angeles Times, Mar 6, 2005
- N. Berliner, K. Gardner, & E. Thibault, “Deterrent Value and the Cost of Death Penalty,” University of Vermont, 1998
The Death Penalty Internationally
What other countries allow the death penalty? Why does the European Union prohibit the death penalty? Are people who committed crimes when they were minors executed in any countries?
- International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S. by DPIC
- The Death Penalty: An International Perspective by DPIC
- Amnesty International, “Death Sentences and Executions 2009 (pdf),” released Mar. 30, 2010
- “Death Penalty - Beyond Abolition” (Council of Europe Publishing, 2004)
- R. Hood,”The Death Penalty: A World-Wide Perspective”; Revised and Updated Edition, Oxford University Press, 2002. Originally published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1996.
- Published by the International Commission of Jurists, “The Death Penalty: Condemned” (September, 2000)
- W. Schabas, “The abolition of the death penalty in international law,” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997
- How the Death Penalty Weakens U.S. International Interests by the American Civil Liberties Union
Death Row
What is death row like? Do death row prisoners ever interact with one another? What is a typical day like for a death row inmate? How many people are on death row in the U.S.?
- Death Row by DPIC
- Death Row Fact Sheet from the Florida Department of Corrections
- Death Row Facts from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- D. Mann, “Solitary Men,” The Texas Observer, Nov. 10, 2010 (DPIC Summary)
- Rev. C. Pickett, “Within These Walls: Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain,” St. Martin’s Press, 2002
- “A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story” (Arcade Publishing 2001)
- R. Loney, “A Dream of the Tattered Man: Stories From Georgia’s Death Row,” William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2001
- R. Murray “Life on Death Row,” Albert Publishing Co. in association with 1st Books Library, 2003
- S. Christianson, “Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House” New York University Press, 2000
- D. Lindorff, “Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal,” Common Courage Press, 2003
- N. Williams, “Still Surviving,” Breakout Publishing Co., 2003
- R. King, “Capital Consequences: Families of the Condemned Tell Their Stories,” Rutgers University Press, 2005
Deterrence
Does the death penalty deter murder? Does it deter murder more than life without parole?
- Deterrence by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts Episode Four: Deterrence
- T. Kovandzic, L. Vieraitis and D. Paquette Boots, ” Does the death penalty save lives? New evidence from state panel data, 1977 to 2006,” 8 Criminology & Public Policy 803 (2009) (DPIC Summary)
- R. Weisberg “The Death Penalty Meets Social Science: Deterrence and Jury Behavior Under New Scrutiny,” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 151 (2005).
- Testimony of Jeffrey Fagan before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary of the Massachusetts Legislature on House Bill 3834 (2005)
- M. Radelet and R. Akers,”Deterrence and the Death Penalty: The Views of the Experts.” Northern Illinois University (1996)
- N. Berliner, K. Gardner, & E. Thibault,”Deterrent Value and the Cost of Death Penalty,” University of Vermont (1998)
Executions
How many people has the United States executed? How are people executed? Does every state execute people in the same way? Are people still hung? Who puts the inmates to death?
- Executions in the United States by DPIC
- Execution Database by DPIC
- “Some Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions” by Michael L. Radelet, University of Colorado
- Listen to the audio “Execution Tapes” recorded by the Georgia Department of Corrections
History
When did the death penalty start? How has it changed over the years?
- History of the Death Penalty by DPIC
- The History of the Death Penalty: a Guide for Students by DPIC
- The Espy File: A database of historical executions
- Video by Rob Stansfield, PhD of Sociology & Anthropology at University of Guelph, depicting the history of abolition of capital punishment in the United States, on a state by state basis, from 1846 to 2012.
- S. Banner, “The Death Penalty: An American History,” 2002
- R. Bohm, “Deathquest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States,” Anderson Publishing, 1999.
- H. Bedau, editor, “The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies,” Oxford University Press, 1997.
- W. Schabas “The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law,” Cambridge University Press, second edition, 1997.
- “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty,” L. Randa, editor, University Press of America, 1997.
Innocence
Are there innocent people on death row? Has the United States executed anyone who was innocent? How might innocent people end up on death row? Have any death row inmates been freed?
- Innocence and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts: Episode Five: Innocence
- Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty by DPIC
- Death Penalty: Innocence by the American Civil Liberties Union
- The Innocence Project at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University
- D. Grann, “Trial by Fire: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?” The New Yorker, Sept. 7, 2009
- Sister Helen Prejean, “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,” Random House, 2005
- “Wrongly Convicted: Perspectives on Failed Justice” Saundra D. Westervelt and John A. Humphrey, eds., Rutgers University Press, July 2001
- J. Tucker, “May God Have Mercy: A True Story of Crime and Punishment,” Norton Press, 1997
- R. Warden and D. Protess, “A Promise of Justice: The Eighteen Year Old Fight to Save Four Innocent Men,” 1998
- D. Connery, ed.”Convicting the innocent: the story of a murder, a false confession, and the struggle to free a ‘wrong man;’” Brookline Books, Cambridge, MA, 1996
- R. Parloff, “Triple jeopardy: a story of law at its best - and worst;” Little Brown and Company, New York, 1996
- A. J. Harris, “Until proven innocent: a true story of murder, honor, and justice;” Avon Books, New York, 1995
Mental Illness
Can you receive the death penalty if you have a mental illness? How does mental illness affect one’s responsibility in criminal conduct? Should such illnesses affect the punishment for a crime?
- Mental Illness and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- F. Bordenave, MD and D. Kelly, MD, “Death Penalty and Mentally Ill Defendants,” (Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2010).
- D. Malone, “Cruel and Inhumane: Executing the Mentally Ill,” (Amnesty International Magazine, Fall 2005).
- K. Miller and M. Radelet, “Executing the mentally ill: the criminal justice system and the case of Alvin Ford”; Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California, 1993
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Mental Illness and the Death Penalty in the United States by the American Civil Liberties Union
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual Disability is called “mental retardation” in some older cases and articles. Can you receive the death penalty if you are intellectually disabled? How does or intellectual disability affect one’s responsibility in criminal conduct? Should such disabilities affect the punishment for a crime?
- Intellectual Disability and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- J. Blume, S. Johnson and C. Seeds, “An Empirical Look at Atkins v. Virginia and Its Application in Capital Cases,” Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 76:625. Spring 2009
- E. Reed, “The Penry penalty: capital punishment and offenders with retardation;” University Press of America, Lanham, MD, 1993
- R. Conley, et al., ed.: “The criminal justice system and retardation;” Paul H. Brooks, Baltimore, MD, 1992
Race
Does the race of the defendant affect the application of the death penalty? Does the race of the crime victims affect the application of the death penalty?
- Race and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts: Episode Six: Race
- Chattahoochee Judicial District - The Buckle of the Death Belt: The Death Penalty in Microcosm by DPIC
- Racial Disparities in Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions 1988-1994 by DPIC
- The Death Penalty in Black & White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides by DPIC
- S. Dewan, “Blacks Still Being Blocked from Juries in the South, Study Finds,” New York Times, June 2, 2010 (DPIC Summary)
- D. Baldus and G. Woodworth, “False Attacks on the Proposed NC Racial Justice Act,” The Herald-Sun. July 29, 2009.
- S. Phillips, “Racial Disparities in the Capital of Capital Punishment,” 45 Houston Law Review 807 (2008) (DPIC Summary)
- A. Welsh-Huggins, “Death Penalty Unequal,” Associated Press, May 7, 2005.
- K. Roberts, “Capital Cases Hard for Smaller Counties,” Associated Press, May 8, 2005
- J. Seewer, “Two Killers; One Spared,” Associated Press, May 9, 2005
- Race and the Death Penalty by the American Civil Liberties Union
- G. Pierce and M. Radelet, The Impact of Legally Inappropriate Factors on Death Sentencing for California Homicides, 1990-99 Santa Clara Law Review, Vol 46
Representation
Are lawyers paid more for death penalty cases than other criminal cases? Are there standards that defense lawyers in capital cases have to adhere to? Can poor defendants replace their lawyers?
- Death Penalty Representation by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts: Episode Seven: Representation
- S. Phillips, “Legal Disparities in the Capital of Capital Punishment,” 99 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 717 (2009) (DPIC Summary)
- “If you cannot afford a lawyer…” by the Southern Center for Human Rights, January 2003
- P. Nelson, “Defending the devil: my story as Ted Bundy’s last lawyer;” William Morrow & Co., New York, 1994
- S. Bright, “Neither Equal Nor Just: The Rationing and Denial of Legal Services to the Poor When Life and Liberty Are at Stake.” Annual Survey of American Law. Volume 1997
- Inadequate Representation by the American Civil Liberties Union
Victims
Are families of victims in favor of or against the death penalty? How do families feel after the murderer of their relative has been executed?
- Victims and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- DPIC Podcasts: Episode Eight: Victims
- A. Bosco, “Choosing Mercy: A Mother of Murder Victims Pleads to End the Death Penalty” Orbis Books, 2001
- Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights
- R. King, “Don’t Kill in Our Names: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty,” Rutgers Press, 2003
- Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing
- “The Empty Chair: Death Penalty Yes or No” a documentary by Jacqui Lofaro and Victor Teich (DPIC Summary)
Women
Why are there less women on death row than men? Are women on death row treated differently than men? What kinds of crimes result in the death penalty for women?
- Women and the Death Penalty by DPIC
- K. O’Shea, “Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998” Praeger Publishers, Westport, Conn.
- B. Lowry, “Crossed over: a murder, a memoir;” A. Knopf, New York, 1992
- V. Streib, Death Penalty for Female Offenders, January 1, 1973, Through October 30, 2010 Issue #65
Additional DPIC Resources:
High School Curriculum - This award-winning curriculum includes 10-day lesson plans, background information on the death penalty, and also outlines commonly raised pros and cons of the death penalty.
College Curriculum - The college-level curriculum contains teaching cases of individuals who were sentenced to death in the United States. The curriculum provides a detailed narrative account of each individual’s legal case, including resources such as the original reports from the homicide investigation, affidavits, and transcripts of testimony from witnesses.