The lat­est edi­tion of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Death Row, USA shows a con­tin­u­a­tion of the down­ward trend in the over­all death row pop­u­la­tion, though California (731 inmates) – the state with the largest death row – record­ed an increase. The next lead­ing states were Florida (412), Texas (298), Pennsylvania (198), and Alabama (197), all of which reg­is­tered decreas­es on death row. The total pop­u­la­tion of 3,108 inmates as of April 1, 2013, rep­re­sents a 12% decline from the same date 10 years ago, when there were 3,525 inmates on death row. Since the last report was released in January, death row pop­u­la­tions in 11 states and the fed­er­al sys­tem have decreased. The report also con­tains racial break­downs of death row, exe­cu­tions, and vic­tims in cas­es that result­ed in exe­cu­tions. The states with high­est per­cent­age of minori­ties on death row were Delaware (78%) and Texas (71%), among those with at least 10 inmates on death row.

(NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ​“Death Row, USA,” April 1, 2013; post­ed September 13, 2013). See also Death Row and Studies.

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