DPI Reports
Below are reports released by the Death Penalty Information Center since its inception, covering subjects such as race, innocence, politicization, costs of the death penalty, and more. When opening a report, please allow the report page to load fully before selecting links to sections or footnotes. Most of these reports are also available in printed form from DPIC. For a copy of one of these reports, e‑mail DPI. For bulk orders, please download our Resource Order Form.
Reports are separated into Year End Reports, In-Depth Reports, and Special Reports. In-Depth Reports are DPI’s signature long, thorough reports on major death-penalty issues. These include “The 2% Death Penalty,” examining geographic arbitrariness in capital punishment, and “Behind the Curtain,” covering secrecy in the death penalty system. Special Reports are shorter, and typically address a specific event or question. These include DPI’s explanation of the 2017 spate of executions that were scheduled in Arkansas, and our analysis of the largest number of executions performed on a single day.
Reports: 36 — 40
Dec 15, 2015
The Death Penalty in 2015: Year End Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Death Penalty Use in 2015 Declines Sharply Fewest Executions, Fewest Death Sentences, and Fewest States Employing the Death Penalty in Decades (Washington, D.C.) The use of the death penalty in the U.S. declined by virtually every measure in 2015. The 28 executions this year marked the lowest number since 1991, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). As of December 15, fourteen states and the federal government have imposed…
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Nov 10, 2015
Battle Scars: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty
In many respects, veterans in the United States are again receiving the respect and gratitude they deserve for having risked their lives and served their country. Wounded soldiers are welcomed home, and their courage in starting a new and difficult journey in civilian life is rightly applauded. But some veterans with debilitating scars from their time in combat have received a very different reception. They have been judged to be the “worst of the worst” criminals, deprived of mercy, sentenced…
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Dec 18, 2014
The Death Penalty in 2014: Year End Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DEATH PENALTY 2014: FEWEST EXECUTIONS IN 20 YEARS FEWEST DEATH SENTENCES IN 40 YEARS Seven Death Row Inmates Exonerated, Highest in Five Years (Washington, D.C.) With 35 executions this year, 2014 marks the fewest people put to death since 1994, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The 72 new death sentences in 2014[1] is the lowest number in the modern era of the death penalty, dating back to 1974. Executions and…
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Dec 15, 2013
The Death Penalty in 2013: Year End Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Executions Drop Below 40 for Only Second Time since 1994 Death Sentences Remain Near Record Lows, Number of States Repealing Capital Punishment Grows, and Public Support for Death Penalty at 40-Year Low (Washington, D.C.) With 39 executions in 2013, this year marks only the second time in nearly two decades that the United States executed less than 40 people, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). One of the reasons for…
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Oct 01, 2013
The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All
Contrary to the assumption that the death penalty is widely practiced across the country, it is actually the domain of a small percentage of U.S. counties in a handful of states. The burdens created by this narrow but aggressive use, however, are shifted to the majority of counties that almost never use it. The disparate and highly clustered use of the death penalty raises serious questions of unequal and arbitrary application of the law. It also forces the jurisdictions that have resisted the…
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