The Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Web page on Native Americans and the death penalty. The page contains information on the use of the death penalty against Native Americans and includes the results of an extensive historical study conducted by David V. Baker. His research was recently published in the December 2007 edition of Criminal Justice Studies, and is the first of its kind. Baker reported 464 executions of Native Americans between 1639 and 2006, not counting thousands of extra-judicial executions. There is a breakdown of executions by jurisdiction and by method.

As of 2006, 39 Native American prisoners resided on state and federal death rows. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 15 American Indians have been executed, mostly for the murder of white victims.

To view DPIC’s page on Native Americans and the death penalty, please visit here. DPIC will expand this page as more information becomes available.

(Posted March 14, 2008). See also Race and Executions.