What to Know Series

DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, this installment examines Latinos and the death penalty. Why it matters: Since 1977, Latinos have made up 9% of individuals who have been sentenced to death and 8% of individuals who have been executed. According to the National Bureau of Justice Statistics, 15%…

DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. This installment looks at junk science: how flawed or overstated forensic evidence has contributed to wrongful capital convictions, and what happens when the understanding of evidence underlying a conviction changes. Why this Matters: Forensic evidence is often presented to juries as objective scientific…

DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. Why it matters: More than 100 citizens of other countries are under sentences of death in the United States, and in nearly every reported case, arresting authorities failed to promptly inform them of their treaty right to consular assistance. Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations…

Why it matters: State laws permitting judges to override jury decisions and the imposition of death sentences based on non-unanimous jury verdicts have contributed to Alabama and Florida’s high death sentencing rates — with nearly 20% of Alabama’s death-sentenced population on death row because of judicial override. Between 1976 and 2017, elected Alabama judges overrode jury sentencing decisions 112 times. In 91% of those cases, judges overruled jury decisions of life to impose death sentences.