In Pennsylvania, the state goes through the expen­sive and time-con­sum­ing process of try­ing many death penal­ty cas­es and fight­ing appeals, but almost all cas­es end with a life sen­tence. According to a recent Associated Press study of what hap­pens in cap­i­tal cas­es in the state, 124 death sen­tences have been over­turned and resen­tenced. When these cas­es went through the jus­tice sys­tem a sec­ond time with the orig­i­nal errors cor­rect­ed, 95% (118) result­ed in life sen­tences or less. Only 6 inmates were resen­tenced to death. Pennsylvania has the fourth largest death row in the coun­try, but the only peo­ple who have been exe­cut­ed were three inmates who waived their appeals. The last exe­cu­tion in a ful­ly con­test­ed case was 47 years ago. Twenty-one inmates on death row have died of nat­ur­al caus­es or sui­cide since 1983. Six inmates have been exon­er­at­ed when their con­vic­tions were reversed and they were freed fol­low­ing acquit­tals or dis­missal of all charges.

Pennsylvania is not alone in main­tain­ing such a cost­ly and irra­tional sys­tem. New Jersey rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1982, and dur­ing 25 years had no exe­cu­tions. New York rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1995 and spent $170 mil­lion over 9 years, result­ing in no exe­cu­tions and no death sen­tences that were affirmed on appeal. New Mexico rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1979; by 2009, it had car­ried out one exe­cu­tion and had 2 peo­ple on death row. All three states have since aban­doned the death penal­ty. Since the death penal­ty resumed in the U.S. in 1976, only 9 states have aver­aged one or more exe­cu­tions per year, and only one of those states, Texas, has aver­aged more than 3 exe­cu­tions per year. For most states, an exe­cu­tion is one of the least like­ly out­comes when­ev­er the death penal­ty is sought.

(“Facts about Pennsylvania’s Death Penalty,” Associated Press, July 24, 2009; see also DPIC research). See Costs and Studies.

Citation Guide