Statistics

All of these statistics were taken from the Death Penalty Information Center as of June 19, 2007.

Total Number of Executions

• 1080
• Peak in 1998 with 98 executions
• Low points in 1976, 1978 and 1980 with 0 executions
• 2007 (as of June 19, 2007) = 23 executions

States

• With = 38 (most = TX with 394 executions since 1976)
• Without = 12

Number of Executions per region since 1976

• South = 882
  
• West = 67
  
• Midwest = 125
  
• Northeast = 4
  
• National = 491
  

Race of Defendants Executed

• Black = 365 (34%)
  
• Hispanic = 73 (7%)
• White = 618 (57%)
  
• Other = 24 (2%)
  

Race of Victim in Death Penalty Cases

• Black = 14%
  
• Hispanic = 5%
  
• White = 79%
  
• Other = 2%
  

Juveniles

• Roper v. Simmons (2005) = no death penalty for juveniles (under the age of 18)
• Prior to 2005, 22 juvenile defendants had been executed since 1976
  

Mental Retardation

• Atkins v. Virginia (2002) = unconstitutional to execute defendants with mental retardation
  

Women

• 50 women on death row as of June 7, 2007 (1.7% of total death row population)
• 11 women have been executed since 1976
  

Opinion of Deterrence (notion that death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder)

• Yes = 12%
• No = 84%
• No opinion = 4%
  

Murder Rates per 100,000 (2005)

• South = 6.6
  
• West = 5.8
  
• Midwest = 4.9
  
• Northeast = 4.4
  
• National = 5.6
  

Method of executions since 1976

• Lethal injection = 911
• Electrocution = 153
• Gas chamber = 11
• Hanging = 3
• Firing squad = 2
  

Race of Death Row Inmates (total = 3,350)

• Black = 1,397 (42%)
• Hispanic = 359 (11%)
• White = 1,517 (45%)
• Other = 77 (2%)