The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has released the lat­est Death Row U.S.A. report, cov­er­ing death penal­ty sta­tis­tics through January 1, 2009. The total num­ber of death row inmates decreased from 3,309 a year ear­li­er to 3,297. The states with the largest num­ber of death row inmates were California with 678, Florida with 402, and Texas with 358. The states (with 10 or more inmates) with the high­est per­cent of minori­ties on death row were Texas at 70%, Connecticut at 70%, and Pennsylvania with 69%. The com­plete Death Row U.S.A. report may be found here.

The size of death row increased steadi­ly after the rein­state­ment of the death penal­ty in 1976, but has dropped slow­ly since 2000. Among the larg­er changes in death row sizes since one year ago are: California: +11, Tennessee: ‑10, Texas: ‑15. Death Row USA also con­tains infor­ma­tion about exe­cu­tions by state and by race, and sum­maries of impor­tant Supreme Court cas­es that may affect cap­i­tal cas­es. (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., ​“Death Row U.S.A. Winter 2009,” 2009). See Studies, Race, and Death Row.

Citation Guide