On October 2 the Death Penalty Information Center released a new report, The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All. The report shows that, con­trary to the assump­tion that the death penal­ty is wide­ly used in the U.S., only a few juris­dic­tions employ cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment exten­sive­ly. Only 2% of the coun­ties in the U.S. have been respon­si­ble for the major­i­ty of cas­es lead­ing to exe­cu­tions since 1976. Likewise, only 2% of the coun­ties are respon­si­ble for the major­i­ty of today’s death row pop­u­la­tion and recent death sen­tences. The report also not­ed that aggres­sive use of the death penal­ty in rel­a­tive­ly few coun­ties pro­duces enor­mous costs that are shift­ed to the entire state. ​“This pecu­liar exer­cise of dis­cre­tion results in enor­mous expens­es being passed on to tax­pay­ers across the state. Moreover, the cor­re­la­tion between the high use of the death penal­ty and a high rate of error means that courts in these states will be occu­pied for years with cost­ly appeals and retri­als. Some states have recent­ly cho­sen to opt out of this process, at great sav­ings to their tax­pay­ers.” For a video about the report, info­graph­ics, and more infor­ma­tion, vis­it death​penal​ty​in​fo​.org/​t​w​o​p​e​rcent.

(R. Dieter, ​“The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All,” DPIC report released October 2, 2013). Read the Executive Summary. Read DPIC’s Press Release. Read full text of the report. See more DPIC Reports.

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