The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is called a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death …

Innocence Database Since 1973, at least 202 people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated. Death Penalty Census The Census currently lists more than 9939 …

Feb 12, 2026 · Capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. The term ‘death penalty’ is sometimes used interchangeably with …

Gallup’s 2024 survey found just 53% of Americans support the death penalty—down from 80% in the mid-1990s. Over half of respondents now believe it is applied unfairly.

Dec 5, 2025 · This ruling invalidated all existing state and federal death penalty statutes, effectively creating a nationwide moratorium on executions and leading to the commutation of sentences for …

The death penalty is the state-sanctioned punishment of executing an individual for a specific crime. Congress, as well as any state legislature, may prescribe the death penalty, also known as capital …

Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, only 21 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 6 subject to moratoriums. As of 2025, four of the 38 OECD member states (the United …

In 2020, he called lethal injec­tion “ impos­si­ble from a prac­ti­cal point of view.” We rely entirely on donations from people like you to provide critical data and analysis about the death penalty so you …

Feb 12, 2026 · According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “The federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories but is used relatively rarely. About 50 prisoners are on the federal …

In 1979, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that the state’s statute impos­ing a manda­to­ry death sen­tence for a pris­on­er who killed a fel­low pris­on­er was uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. The leg­is­la­ture repealed the …