Bureau
of Justice Statistics
Executions, Death Sentences, Death Row and Public
Support All Decline
DPIC Issues Year End Report
Executions
in the U.S. dropped for the second consecutive year to their lowest level
in 5 years according to a report from the Death Penalty Information
Center. With no more
scheduled this year, there were 66 executions in 2001, down from 85 in
2000 and 98 in 1999. The
Bureau of Justice Statistics, in a report on the year 2000, also noted a
significant drop in death sentences in 2000 as compared to 1999 and 1998.
This is the lowest number of death sentences in 20 years. DPIC's report noted that public support for the death penalty
has declined, from a high of 80% in 1994 to 65% in 2001, according to
Gallup Poll results. (New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, 12/14/01).
Capital Punishment
Statistics
Summary findings
Executions
In 2000, 85 inmates were executed, 13 fewer than in 1999.
Executions,
1930-2000
-
In
2000, 85 persons in 14 States were executed -- 40 in Texas; 11 in
Oklahoma, 8 in Virginia, 6 in Florida, 5 in Missouri, 4 in Alabama, 3
in Arizona, 2 in Arkansas, and 1 each in Delaware, Louisiana, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and California.
-
Of
persons executed in 2000:
-- 49 were white
-- 35 were black
-- 1 was American Indian
-
Of
those executed in 2000:
-- 83 were men
-- 2 were women
-
Eighty
of the executions in 2000 were carried out by lethal injection and 5
by electrocution.
-
Thirty-eight
States and the Federal government in 2000 had capital statutes.
Prisoners
under sentence of death
The number of prisoners on death row has been increasing
Prisoners
on death row, 1953-2000
-
At
yearend 2000, 37 States and the Federal prison system held 3,593
prisoners under sentence of death, 1.5% more than at yearend 1999. All
had committed murder.
Since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, white
inmates have made up the majority of those under sentence of death.
Prisoners
on death row by race, 1968-2000
-
Of
persons under sentence of death in 2000:
-- 1,990 were white
-- 1,535 were black
-- 29 were American Indian
-- 27 were Asian
-- 12 were of unknown race.
-
Fifty-four
women were under a sentence of death.
-
The
339 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death accounted for 11% of
inmates with a known ethnicity.
-
Among
inmates under sentence of death and with available criminal histories:
-- nearly 2 in 3 had a prior felony conviction
-- about 1 in 12 had a prior homicide conviction.
-
Among
persons for whom arrest information was available, the average age at
time of arrest was 28; 2% of inmates were age 17 or younger.
-
At
yearend, the youngest inmate under sentence of death was 18; the
oldest was 85.
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