U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics ------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available on BJS website at: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4991 This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=1 ------------------------------------------------------- Capital Punishment, 2012 – Statistical Tables Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician At yearend 2012, 35 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons held 3,033 inmates under sentence of death, which was 32 fewer than at yearend 2011 (figure 1). This represents the twelfth consecutive year in which the number of inmates under sentence of death decreased. Four states (California, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania) held more than half of all inmates on death row on December 31, 2012. The Federal Bureau of Prisons held 56 inmates under sentence of death at yearend 2012. Of prisoners under sentence of death at yearend 2012, 56% were white and 42% were black. The 384 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death accounted for 14% of inmates with a known ethnicity. Ninety-eight percent of inmates under sentence of death were male, and 2% were female. The race and sex of inmates under sentence of death has remained relatively unchanged since 2000. Among inmates for whom legal status at the time of the capital offense was available, 40% had an active criminal justice status. About 4 in 10 of these inmates were on parole, and nearly 3 in 10 were on probation. The remaining inmates had charges pending, were incarcerated, had escaped from incarceration, or had some other criminal justice status. Criminal history patterns of death row inmates differed by race and Hispanic origin. More black inmates had a prior felony conviction (73%), compared to Hispanic (64%) or white (63%) inmates. Similar percentages of white (9%), black (9%), and Hispanic (6%) inmates had a prior homicide conviction. A slightly higher percentage of Hispanic (32%) and black (30%) inmates were on probation or parole at the time of their capital offense, compared to 24% of white inmates. In 2012, 19 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that 79 inmates were received under sentence of death. Admissions in Florida (20), California (13), Texas (9), and Pennsylvania (6) accounted for 61% of those sentenced to death in 2012. Twenty states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons removed 111 inmates from under sentence of death: 43 were executed, 17 died by means other than execution, and 51 were removed as a result of commutations or courts overturning sentences or convictions. Removals in Texas (17) and Florida (10) accounted for a quarter of all inmates removed from under sentence of death in 2012. Nine states executed 43 inmates in 2012. The inmates executed in 2012 had been under sentence of death an average of 15 years and 10 months, which was 8 months less than those executed in 2011. Among the 36 jurisdictions with prisoners under sentence of death at yearend 2012, 5 jurisdictions had more inmates than at yearend 2011, 13 had fewer inmates, and 18 had the same number. Florida showed the largest increase (up 10 inmates). Oklahoma and Texas (down 8 each), followed by Mississippi (down 7), North Carolina (down 6), and Arizona (down 5) had the largest decreases. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 (see Gregg v. Georgia, 427 U.S. 153 (1976) and its companion cases). From 1976 to 2000, the number of inmates under sentence of death in the U.S. steadily increased until it peaked at 3,601 inmates on December 31, 2000 (figure 2). In 2001, the number of inmates removed from under sentence of death was higher than the number admitted for the first time since 1976 (figure 3). The number of annual removals of those under sentence of death exceeded the number of admissions every year since 2001. The 79 inmates received under sentence of death in 2012 represent a 5% decrease from the 83 inmates received in 2011. The number of inmates received in 2012 was the smallest number of admissions to death row since 1973 when 44 persons were admitted. Of the 8,032 people under sentence of death between 1977 and 2012, 16% had been executed, 6% died by causes other than execution, and 40% received other dispositions.*** Footnote 1Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1976 approval of revised statutes in some states (Gregg v. Georgia), executions of inmates resumed in 1977.***The federal government began collecting annual execution statistics in 1930. Between 1930 and 2012, a total of 5,179 inmates were executed under civil authority (figure 4).***Footnote 2 Military authorities carried out an additional 160 executions between 1930 and 1961, which are not included in this report.*** After the Supreme Court reinstated death penalty statutes in 1976, 35 states and the federal government executed 1,320 inmates. ********************************************* One state repealed its death penalty statute in 2012, one state had a portion of its statute declared unconstitutional, and one state revised its capital statute ********************************************* As of December 31, 2012, 36 states and the federal government authorized the death penalty (table 1). Although New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 (Laws 2009, ch. 11 § 5), the repeal was not retroactive, and offenders charged with a capital offense committed prior to the repeal may be eligible for a death sentence. As of December 31, 2012, New Mexico held two men under previously imposed death sentences, and one person was awaiting sentencing with the state seeking the death penalty. In 2012, the Connecticut legislature repealed the death penalty (Public Act No. 12-5), effective for only those capital offenses committed on or after April 25, 2012. Since the repeal was prospective, 10 men remained under sentence of death as of December 31, 2012. The Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a portion of the state’s capital criminal procedure on June 22, 2012. The decision in Hobbs v. Jones (2012 Ark. 293) found that the Method of Execution Act of 2009 (Ark. Code Ann. § 5- 4-617 (Supp. 2011)) violated the separation of powers doctrine in Article 4 of the Arkansas Constitution because the legislature granted the executive branch sole discretion in selecting the method of administering the drugs for lethal injections. During 2012, Delaware revised its statutory provisions relating to the death penalty. The legislature added home invasion as a class B felony offense to the statute (11 Del. Code Ann. 11 Del. Code Ann. § 826A) and amended the aggravating factors for which a death penalty may be imposed to include murder committed in the course of a home invasion (11 Del. Code Ann. § 4209(e)(1)j), effective June 1, 2012. ********************************************* Lethal injection was authorized by all states with capital statutes ********************************************* As of December 31, 2012, all 36 states with death penalty statutes authorized lethal injection as a method of execution (table 2). In addition to lethal injection, 15 states authorized an alternative method of execution; 8 states authorized electrocution; 3 states, lethal gas; 3 states, hanging; and 2 states, firing squad. In states that authorized multiple methods of execution, the condemned prisoner generally selects the method. Five of the 15 states (Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Utah) stipulated which method must be used depending on either the date of the offense or sentencing. One state (New Hampshire) authorized hanging only if lethal injection could not be given. Four states authorized alternative methods if lethal injection is ruled to be unconstitutional: Delaware authorized hanging, Oklahoma authorized electrocution or firing squad, Utah authorized firing squad, and Wyoming authorized lethal gas. The method of execution of federal prisoners is lethal injection, pursuant to 28 CFR, Part 26. For offenses prosecuted under the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the method used is that of the state in which the conviction took place (18 U.S.C. 3596. ************************************************************ ******************* Executions in 2013 ******************* In 2013, 9 states executed 39 inmates, which was four fewer than the number executed in 2012. Three states accounted for nearly three-quarters of the executions carried out during this period: Texas executed 16 inmates, Florida executed 7 inmates, and Oklahoma executed 6 inmates. Of the 39 executions carried out in 2013, 38 were by lethal injection. One inmate in Virginia was executed by electrocution. A woman was executed in 2013 in Texas. ************************************************************* ************* Methodology ************** Capital punishment information is collected annually as part of the National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS-8). This data series is collected in two parts: data on persons under sentence of death are obtained from the department of corrections in each jurisdiction currently authorizing capital punishment, and the status of death penalty statutes is obtained from the Office of the Attorney General in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government. Data collection forms are available on the BJS website at www.bjs.gov. NPS-8 covers all persons under sentence of death at any time during the year who were held in a state or federal nonmilitary correctional facility. This includes capital offenders transferred from prison to mental hospitals and those who may have escaped from custody. It excludes persons whose death sentences have been overturned by the court, regardless of their current incarceration status. The statistics included in this report may differ from data collected by other organizations for various reasons: (1) NPS-8 adds inmates to the population under sentence of death not at sentencing, but at the time they are admitted to a state or federal correctional facility; (2) if inmates entered prison under a death sentence or were reported as being relieved of a death sentence in one year but the court had acted in the previous year, the counts are adjusted to reflect the dates of court decisions (see note on table 4 for the affected jurisdictions); and (3) NPS counts are always for the last day of the calendar year and will differ from counts for more recent periods. All data in this report have been reviewed for accuracy by the data providers in each jurisdiction prior to publication. ************************************************************** *************** List of tables *************** Table 1. Capital offenses, by state, 2012 Table 2. Method of execution, by state, 2012 Table 3. Federal capital offenses, 2012 Table 4. Prisoners under sentence of death, by region, jurisdiction, and race, 2011 and 2012 Table 5. Demographic characteristics of prisoners under sentence of death, 2012 Table 6. Women under sentence of death, by region, jurisdiction, and race, 2011 and 2012 Table 7. Hispanics under sentence of death, by region and jurisdiction, 2011 and 2012 Table 8. Criminal history profile of prisoners under sentence of death, by race and Hispanic origin, 2012 Table 9. Inmates removed from under sentence of death, by method of removal, 2012 Table 10. Average time between sentencing and execution, 1977–2012 Table 11. Number of inmates executed, by race and Hispanic origin, 1977–2012 Table 12. Executions and other dispositions of inmates sentenced to death, by race and Hispanic origin, 1977–2012 Table 13. Executions, by jurisdiction and method, 1977–2011 Table 14. Number of persons executed, by jurisdiction, 1930–2012 Table 15. Prisoners under sentence of death on December 31, 2012, by jurisdiction and year of sentencing Table 16. Prisoners sentenced to death and the outcome of the sentence, by year of sentencing, 1973–2012 Table 17. Number sentenced to death and number of removals, by jurisdiction and reason for removal, 1973–2012 Appendix Table 1. Number of inmates under sentence of death, by demographic characteristics, 2012 ************************************************************** ************************************************************** The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. William J. Sabol is the acting director. This report was written by Tracy L. Snell. Todd D. Minton verified the report. Beth Davis carried out the data collection and processing under the supervision of Crecilla C. Scott, Criminal Justice Statistics Branch, Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. Rekha Kudlur provided statistical and technical assistance. Lockheed Martin and Jill Thomas edited the report. Barbara Quinn produced the report. May 2014, NCJ 245789 ************************************************************** ************************************************ Office of Justice Programs Innovation * Partnerships * Safer Neighborhoods www.ojp.usdoj.gov ************************************************ ********************** 4/29/2014/JER/11:45am **********************