Entries tagged with “Executions”
Sep 04, 2026
Japan Hangs Man in First Execution of 2026, Joining U.S. as Only G7 Nations to Execute
On August 21, 2026, Japan hanged Sunao Takami for the killing of five people. The execution is not only the first of the year for the nation but also the first carried out under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government. Aside from the United States, Japan is the only other G7 country to retain use of the death penalty. In 2009, Mr. Takami was convicted of setting fire to a pachinko parlor in Osaka, killing five people and injuring 10. Despite his defense team arguing that Mr. Takami was…
Executions
Upcoming Executions
,Jul 11, 2023
RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT: Updates to Upcoming Executions and Outcomes of Warrants Webpages
The Death Penalty Information Center maintains an up-to-date list of scheduled executions and outcomes of death warrants issued by the states and federal government. Updated each business day, the Upcoming Executions page contains interactive maps displaying the current number of active death warrants, as well as the total number of executions scheduled for each year, through 2026. There are also tables listing additional information about each of these cases. DPIC’s redesigned outcomes of…
Executions
Executions Overview
,May 01, 2023
DPIC GRAPHIC: Vast Majority of States Have Not Carried Out an Execution in Over Ten Years
The accompanying graph (click to view separately) displays the time in years since the last execution by each state as of May 1, 2023. The death penalty in the U.S. is a distinctly minority phenomena, with thirty-six states plus the District of Columbia not carrying out an execution in over 10 years. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment, and additional jurisdictions, including the federal government, have a hold on executions. Last year there were…
Issues
Apr 11, 2023
NEW RESOURCES: Human Rights and the Death Penalty
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), with the support of the Foreign Office of the Federal Government of Germany, recently undertook a project examining the U.S. death penalty through a human rights lens. DPIC has added a series of human rights pages to its website, reframing three aspects of the death penalty – race, conditions of confinement, and executions – in light of human rights norms and treaties. The page on U.S. executions highlights various human rights issues related to…
State & Federal Info
Federal Death Penalty
,Jul 14, 2021
One Year Later, Execution Spree Lays Bare Federal Death Penalty’s Systemic Failures
At 3:00 a.m. Central time on July 14, 2020, after his notice of execution had expired, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) strapped Daniel Lewis Lee to an execution gurney in the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. With the execution chamber curtains closed, correctional officials left him there for four hours while federal prosecutors filed pleadings in a federal appeals court to lift a stay of execution they had forgotten was still in effect. When the stay was lifted at 6:36…
Issues
Executions Overview
,Apr 13, 2017
Arkansas’ plan to execute seven prisoners over an 11-day period
DPIC staff members Robert Dunham, Robin Konrad, and Anne Holsinger explain Arkansas’ plan to execute seven prisoners over an 11-day period beginning April 17. They discuss the state’s reasons for the condensed execution schedule, current litigation related to lethal injection drugs, and the risks of this unprecedented rate of executions. Additional background information on the Arkansas’ executions is available here.