U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

Statistical Tables

Capital Punishment, 2008 
                         
December 2009   NCJ 228662

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Presents characteristics of persons under sentence of death
on December 31, 2008, and persons executed in 2008.
Preliminary data on executions by states during 2009 are
included. Tables present state-by-state information on the
movement of prisoners into and out of death sentence status
during 2008, status of capital statutes, and methods of
execution. Numerical tables also summarize data on offenders
characteristics such as gender, race, Hispanic origin, age at
time of arrest for capital offense, legal status at time of
capital offense, and time between imposition of death
sentence and execution. Data are from the National Prisoner
Statistics (NPS-8) series.

Highlights

I*n 2008, 37 inmates were executed: 18 in Texas; 4 in
Virginia; 3 each in Georgia and South Carolina; 2 each in
Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oklahoma; and 1 in Kentucky. 

*36 executions were by lethal injection; 1 by electrocution.

*Of persons executed in 2008, 20 were white and 17 were
black. All 37 inmates executed were men.

*Thirty-seven states and the federal government had capital
statutes at yearend 2008.

*As of November 30, 2009, 48 executions had been carried out,
12 more than the number executed as of the same date in 2008.

*Between 1977 and 2008, 7,658 people have been under sentence
of death. Of these, 15% were executed, 5% died from causes
other than execution, and 38% received other dispositions.

*A total of 111 inmates were received under sentence of death
during 2008, representing the smallest number of admissions
since 1973.

*A total of 119 inmates were removed from under sentence of
death-37 were executed and 82 were removed by other methods,
including sentences or convictions overturned, commutations
of sentence, and deaths by means other than execution.

2008 statistical tables

Table 1. Capital offenses, by state, 2008

Table 2. Method of execution, by state, 2008

Table 3. Federal capital offenses, 2008

Table 4. Prisoners under sentence of death, by region,
jurisdiction, and race, 2007 and 2008

Table 5. Demographic characteristics of prisoners under
sentence of death, 2008

Table 6. Hispanics and women under sentence of death, by
jurisdiction, 2007 and 2008

Table 7. Age at time of arrest for capital offense and age of
prisoners under sentence of death at yearend 2008

Table 8. Criminal history profile of prisoners under sentence
of death, by race and Hispanic origin, 2008

Table 9. Number of persons executed, by jurisdiction,
1930-2008

Table 10. Executions and other dispositions of inmates
sentenced to death, by race and Hispanic origin, 1977-2008

Table 11. Time under sentence of death and execution, by
race, 1977-2008

Table 12. Women under sentence of death, by race and
jurisdiction, 12/31/08

Table 13. Persons under sentence of death, by gender, race,
and Hispanic origin, 12/31/08

Table 14. Number of inmates received under sentence of death,
1993-2008

Table 15. Number of persons executed, by year, 1977-2008

Table 16. Number of persons executed, by race, Hispanic
origin, and method, 1977-2008

Table 17. Elapsed time since sentencing for inmates under
sentence of death on 12/31/08, by gender, race, and Hispanic
origin
          
12/5/2009 JER 1:45