Entries tagged with “Year End Report”
Dec 14, 2018
The Death Penalty in 2018: Year End Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2018 Marked the Fourth Consecutive Year with Fewer than 30 Executions and Less than 50 Death Sentences Washington State Becomes 20th State to End Capital Punishment (Washington, D.C.) With 25 executions and 42 death sentences expected this year, the use of the death penalty remained near historic lows in 2018, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). 2018 marked the fourth consecutive year with fewer than 30 executions and 50…
Dec 14, 2017
The Death Penalty in 2017: Year End Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. Sees Second Fewest Death Sentences and Executions in 25 Years Public Support for Death Penalty Drops to 45-Year Low as Four More Death-Row Prisoners Exonerated in 2017 (Washington, D.C.) Executions and death sentences remained near historically low levels in 2017, as public support for the death penalty fell to its lowest level in 45 years, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Eight states carried out 23 executions…
Dec 21, 2016
The Death Penalty in 2016: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) Death sentences, executions, and public support for capital punishment all continued historic declines in 2016. American juries imposed the fewest death sentences in the modern era of U.S. capital punishment, since the Supreme Court declared existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972. The expected 30 new death sentences in 2016 represent a 39 percent decline from last year’s already 40-year low of 49. The 20 executions this year marked the lowest number in a…
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…
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…
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…
Dec 18, 2012
The Death Penalty in 2012: Year End Report
DEATH SENTENCES IN 2012 REMAIN NEAR HISTORIC LOW Key Southern States Had No Death Sentences or No Executions, According to New Report Number of Death Penalty States Drops with Connecticut’s Repeal (Washington, D.C.) Only nine states carried out executions this year, equaling the fewest number of states to do so in 20 years, according to a new report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). More than half of the states (29) either have no death penalty or have not…
Dec 15, 2011
The Death Penalty in 2011: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) New death sentences dropped to 78 in 2011, representing a dramatic decline from last year’s number of 112 and marking the first time since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 that the country has produced fewer than 100 death sentences in a single year, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), based on data as of mid-December. Death sentences have declined about 75 percent since 1996, when 315 individuals were sentenced to…
Dec 21, 2010
The Death Penalty in 2010: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) The country experienced a 12 percent decrease in executions in 2010 compared to 2009 and a more than 50 percent drop compared to 1999, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Texas had 29 percent fewer executions in 2010 than the previous year DPIC projects that the number of new death sentences will be 114 for 2010, remaining near last year’s number of 112, which was the lowest number since the death penalty was reinstated in…
Dec 17, 2009
The Death Penalty in 2009: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) The country is expected to finish 2009 with the fewest death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center. Eleven states considered abolishing the death penalty this year, a significant increase in legislative activity from previous years, as the high costs and lack of measurable benefits associated with this punishment troubled lawmakers. Read “The Death Penalty in…
Dec 10, 2008
The Death Penalty in 2008: Year End Report
Executions resumed in 2008 after a de facto moratorium was effectively lifted by the Supreme Court following its decision upholding lethal injection. But only the South returned to regular executions, accounting for 95% of executions carried out in the country in 2008. Almost half of the executions were in Texas. In some states, such as California, Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina, the lethal injection issue remains unsettled, and no executions occurred. The 37 executions this year marked…
Dec 17, 2007
The Death Penalty in 2007: Year End Report
Two dramatic events this year symbolized the broad changes that have been occurring in the death penalty around the country. Executions halted after September 25 when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the mixture of chemicals used in lethal injections in Kentucky (Baze v. Rees). This de facto moratorium on lethal injections contributed to the fewest number of executions in 13 years. On December 13, the New Jersey Assembly joined the state Senate in…
Dec 14, 2006
The Death Penalty in 2006: Year End Report
The use of the death penalty in the U.S. continued to decline in 2006, consistent with a pattern over the past six years. Executions dropped to their lowest level in 10 years as many states grappled with problems related to wrongful convictions and the lethal injection process. The number of death sentences and the size of death row are also decreasing. And for the first time, the Gallup Poll reported that more people supported a sentence of life without parole over the death penalty. In 2006…
Dec 15, 2005
The Death Penalty in 2005: Year End Report
The year 2005 may be remembered as the year that life without parole became an acceptable alternative to the death penalty in the U.S. Texas became the 37th out of 38 death penalty states to adopt this option for its juries. New York’s legislature did not restore the death penalty after it was found unconstitutional, leaving life without parole as the punishment for capital murder. Across the country, the number of death sentences dropped to record lows and some of the most notorious offenders…
Dec 15, 2004
The Death Penalty in 2004: Year End Report
By every measure, the death penalty in the U.S. has been in decline since 1999 and the evidence from 2004 continues that trend. Whether examining death sentences, executions, the size of death row or public support, capital punishment numbers have dropped in a way not seen in over 30 years. In addition to the numerical decline in the use of the death penalty, there were other significant indications of change: In New York, the state’s highest court found the death penalty statute to be…
Dec 18, 2003
The Death Penalty in 2003: Year End Report
The death penalty continued its recent attrition in 2003, with executions, death sentences, and the death row population all lower than a few years ago. Public support for the death penalty dropped to its lowest level in 25 years. At the same time, exonerations from death row helped spur legislative reforms in the capital punishment system. The use of the death penalty declined by a variety of measures: EXECUTIONS: The number of executions dropped by 8% from 71 last year to 65 this year.
Dec 17, 2002
The Death Penalty in 2002: Year End Report
In 2002, the death penalty continued to come under increasing scrutiny and its use became more geographically isolated within the United States. Executions occurred almost exclusively in the South, and one state, Texas, accounted for three times as many as the total in the West, Midwest, and Northeast states combined. Most states did not carry out any executions in 2002. Only 13 states used the ultimate sanction this year. The last time fewer states carried out executions was 1993. As in…
Dec 12, 2001
The Death Penalty in 2001: Year End Report
Throughout 2001, growing concerns about capital punishment were reflected in a series of legislative changes to restrict the death penalty, and executions declined sharply for the second straight year. For the first time since the death penalty was reinstated, the number of people on death row also appears to be decreasing. The critical question remaining is whether a system so marred by mistakes and unfairness can be made acceptable to the public or should it be abandoned altogether. A…
Dec 17, 1996
The Death Penalty in 1996: Year End Report
The overall pace of executions in the United States remained high in 1996 and the prospects for the future are for even greater numbers of people put to death each year. As of December 17, there were 45 executions, mostly by lethal injection. This represents a slight drop from last year when 56 executions represented the highest number since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. The 20% decrease in executions this year was probably due to the passage of numerous federal and state laws…
Dec 15, 1995
The Death Penalty in 1995: Year End Report
Executions in the United States are reaching record numbers. Even without the most recent wave of attempts to curtail death row appeals, the number of people put to death has been steadily rising. Contrary to the popular misconception that death row inmates are granted “endless appeals,” there have been 313 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. This year alone there have been 56 executions, more than any other year in the modern era. Moreover, the pace of executions is…