LATEST DATA FROM “DEATH ROW USA” SHOW CONTINUING DECLINE

The January 1, 2005 figures from “Death Row USA,” a publication of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Capital Punishment Project, show another decline in the number of inmates on death rows across the U.S. A comparison with previous issues of this publication show the trend:

Date Size of Death Row
Jan. 1, 2003
3,692
Jan. 1, 2004
3,503
Oct. 1, 2004
3,471
Jan. 1, 2005
3,455

Other Recent Data:

Largest Death Rows:
California — 639
Texas — 447
Florida — 382

Racial Composition of Death Row:
White — 46%
Black — 42%
Hispanic — 10%

Racial Composition of Murder Victims (in cases where an execution has occurred):
White — 81%
Black — 13%
Hispanic — 4%

Women on Death Row — 54*

Juveniles on Death Row — 79*
(under age 18 at time of crime)

Defendants Who Gave Up Their
Appeals and Were Executed — 111 (12% of executions)

*includes cases where the sentence was reversed but decision not yet final.

(source: Death Row USA, Jan. 1, 2005).

See Death Row.

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