Update on the Death Penalty in the United States

How have trends regarding the death penalty in the United States changed since the mid-1990s, when the movie Dead Man Walking was released?

death sentences and executions peaked in the 1990s (1999) and have fallen substantially since then

Executions in the 1990s:

• 38 in 1993, 56 in 1995, 74 in 1997, 98 in 1999

Last decade:

• 28 in 2015, 20 in 2016, 23 in 2017, 25 in 2018, 22 in 2019, 17 in 2020 (10 federal), 11 in 2021, 18 in 2022, 24 in 2023, 25 in 2024, 43 already this year- 15 in Florida

What do the examples of states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Iowa indicate about the history of the death penalty in the United States?

several states abolished the death penalty in the mid-20th century or earlier, showing that abolition has a long historical footprint in many U.S. jurisdictions

some states have long since abolished the death penalty:

• Michigan (1846)

• Wisconsin (1853)

• Maine (1887)

• Minnesota (1911)

Abolition in the 1950s and 1960s:

• Alaska and Hawaii (1957)

• Vermont (1964)

• Iowa and West Virginia (1965)

Why were there no executions anywhere in the United States between 1968 and 1977?

a nationwide de-facto moratorium grew in the late 1960s and culminated in the Supreme Court’s 1972 Furman v. Georgia ruling, which found many death-penalty statutes were arbitrary and thus unconstitutional; states reformed laws, and executions did not resume until after the Court’s 1976 decisions and the first modern execution in 1977

Why were two Supreme Court decisions about death penalty laws in Georgia significant for the future of capital punishment in this country?

In anticipation of Supreme Court Action:

• 1972, Supreme Court overturns Georgia’s statute, but doesn’t say all capital punishment is unconstitutional

• 1976, Supreme Court uphold Georgia’s new law, proving a framework for states to pass new death penalty laws.

• 1977: Capital Punishment begins with the execution of Gary Gilmore in Utah.

together these decisions produced the modern framework: a moratorium followed by a route for reinstatement under new rules

Why do contemporary analyses of the death penalty in the United States begin with 1976 or 1977?

this is when the Supreme Court approved revised capital statutes and 1977 marks the first execution after the Furman moratorium (Gary Gilmore, Jan 17, 1977); scholars treat that combination as the start of the “modern” era

What are the three legal systems in which one can receive the death penalty in the U.S. today? Which has seen the most and which the least executions in the modern period?

state (most), federal, and military (least)

What significance do these five states—Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, Florida, and Missouri—have for incidence of executions in the United States today?

Total Number of Executions: 1,648

• Federal: 16 (almost all in last six months of 2020)

• Texas: 596

• Oklahoma: 128 (first in 1990)

• Florida: 121 (fifteen this year)

• Virginia: 113 (now abolished)

• Missouri: 103

•next would be Alabama at 82

• 64% in top 5 states (1,061)

What do these three states—Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa—illustrate about death penalty in the United States today?

they show regional variation: some states retain the death penalty but rarely execute, some have active execution practices, and some (like Iowa) abolished it, so retention ≠ frequent use

Which is true about the use and retention of the death penalty in the U.S. over the last decade?

retention remains common in many states, but actual use (executions, new death sentences) has declined markedly

Does a having large death row population correspond to a high number of executions in the United States today?

no

How do numbers of death sentences in the United States today compare with the number in the late 1990s?

death sentences: 1997 (316) vs. 2024 (26)

How do the number of exonerations of persons sentenced to death in the United States compare to the number of executions since 1976?

number of exonerations (conviction overturned, person not tried again or not convicted) 201--could be many reasons: perjury, witness misidentification. For every 8.2 people executed, one is exonerated

How do race, poverty, geography, and gender affect one’s likelihood of being sentenced to death in the United States?

African Americans (% executed = 34%); on death row today (41%)

Race of victim:

• 50% murder victims are white

• 75% of victims in executions were white

Add gender:

• Women about 2% of death row population; 18 women executed

poverty and poor defense resources increase the risk, geography matters (the South and certain counties prosecute capital cases more)

What difference does race make in death sentences in the U.S. today?

defendants who kill white victims are more likely to receive death sentences than those who kill non-white victims; Black defendants are over-represented among those sentenced to death and executed. (Race of victim/defendant are key predictors.)

How has the Supreme Court restricted the application of the death penalty to juveniles and the intellectually disabled?

• 2002, Supreme Court holds intellectually disabled should not be executed (But leaves to states to determine how to decide).

• 2005, Supreme Court holds persons who were juveniles at the time of the crime cannot be executed.