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

Selected Findings July 2019 NCJ 253060

Capital Punishment, 2017: Selected Findings Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician

This report presents selected fndings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ annual data collection on capital punishment. It includes statistics on the number of prisoners executed each year from 1977 through 2017, the number and race of prisoners under sentence of death at year-end 2017 by state, and the average elapsed time from sentence to execution by year from 1977 through 2017.

BJS obtained data on prisoners under sentence of death from the department of corrections in each jurisdiction that authorized the death penalty as of December 31, 2017. Te status of the death penalty was obtained from the ofce of the attorney general in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government. Data covered all persons under sentence of death at any time during the year who were held in a state or federal non-military correctional facility. It included capital ofenders transferred from prison to mental hospitals and those who may have escaped from custody. It excluded persons whose death sentences had been overturned in court, regardless of their current incarceration status.

FIGURE 1 Annual number of prisoners executed under civil authority in the United States, 1977–2017 Number 100

80

60

40

20

0

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics – Capital Punishment, 1977–2017. See table 3 for counts of prisoners executed.

’77 ’80 ’85 ’90 ’95 ’00 ’05 ’10 ’15 ’17

H I G H L I G H T S ■ At year-end 2017, a total of 32 states and the Federal ■ Thirty-four states and the federal government

Bureau of Prisons (BOP) held 2,703 prisoners under authorized the death penalty at year-end 2017; two sentence of death, which was 94 (3%) less than at of these states (New York and Wyoming) had no year-end 2016. prisoners under sentence of death during the year.

■ In 2017, the number of prisoners held under sentence ■ Prisoners executed in 2017 had been under sentence of death declined for the 17th consecutive year. of death for an average of 20 years and 3 months,

which was an increase of 3 years and 3 months ■ Eighteen states held fewer prisoners under sentence from 2016 and an increase of 7 years and 6 months of death at year-end 2017 than at year-end 2016, from 2007. 3 states and the BOP held more prisoners, and

11 states held the same number. ■ Of the 23 prisoners executed in 2017, a total of 16 (more than two-thirds) had been sentenced in 1999 ■ Three states accounted for 59% of the national decline or earlier. in prisoners under sentence of death in 2017: Florida

(down 33 prisoners), Delaware (down 12), and Texas (down 10).

TABLE 1 Status of the death penalty, December 31, 2017

Number of prisoners under Jurisdictions without Executions in 2017 sentence of death death penalty Texas 7 California 742 Alaska Arkansas 4 Florida 349 Connecticut Alabama 3 Texas 234 District of Columbia Florida 3 Alabama 182 Hawaii Ohio 2 Pennsylvania 154 Illinois Virginia 2 North Carolina 143 Iowa Missouri 1 Ohio 138 Maine Georgia 1 Arizona 120 Maryland

Nevada 83 Massachusetts Louisiana 71 Michigan Tennessee 60 Minnesota Federal Bureau of Prisons 59 New Jersey Georgia 55 North Dakota Oklahoma 46 Rhode Island Mississippi 45 Vermont 18 other statesa 222 West Virginia

Wisconsin Total 23 Total 2,703 aThe 18 other states include New Mexico and Delaware. New Mexico repealed the death penalty for ofenses committed on or after July 1, 2009. As of December 31, 2017, two male prisoners in New Mexico were under previously imposed death sentences. The Delaware Supreme Court has held that a portion of Delaware’s death penalty sentencing statute (11 Del. C. § 4209) is unconstitutional (Rauf v. State, 145 A.3d 430 (Del. 2016)). No legislative action has been taken to amend the statute. As a result, capital cases are no longer pursued in Delaware. As of December 31, 2017, one male prisoner in Delaware remained under a previously imposed death sentence. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics – Capital Punishment, 2017.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, 2017: SELECTED FINDINGS | JULY 2019 2

TABLE 2 Prisoners under sentence of death, by region, jurisdiction, and race, 2016 and 2017

Prisoners under sentence Received under sentence Removed from death row Prisoners under sentence of death, 12/31/16 of death, 2017 (excluding executions), 2017a Executed, 2017b of death, 12/31/17Region and

jurisdictionc Totald Whitee Blacke Totald Whitee Blacke Totald Whitee Blacke Totald Whitee Blacke Totald Whitee Blacke U.S. total

Federalf 2,797

58 1,553

30 1,179

27 34

2 22

2 11

0 105

1 52

0 53

1 23

0 15

0 8 0

2,703 59

1,508 32

1,129 26

State 2,739 1,523 1,152 32 20 11 104 52 52 23 15 8 2,644 1,476 1,103 Northeast 160 72 85 2 1 1 7 2 5 0 0 0 155 71 81

New Hamp. 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pennsylvania 159 72 84 2 1 1 7 2 5 0 0 0 154 71 80

Midwest 201 108 92 3 1 2 5 4 1 3 3 0 196 102 93 Indiana 13 10 3 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 10 7 3 Kansas 10 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 7 3 Missouri 25 17 8 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 24 17 7 Nebraska 10 8 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 8 3 Ohio 140 63 76 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 138 60 77 South Dakota 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0

South 1,370 708 644 10 5 5 75 33 42 20 12 8 1,285 668 599 Alabama 183 88 94 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 182 88 93 Arkansas 35 16 19 1 1 0 3 2 1 4 1 3 29 14 15 Delaware 13 5 8 0 0 0 12 5 7 0 0 0 1 0 1 Florida 382 232 149 2 0 2 32 14 18 3 3 0 349 215 133 Georgia 58 27 31 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 0 55 25 30 Kentucky 32 27 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 27 5 Louisiana 73 24 49 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 71 23 48 Mississippi 47 20 26 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 45 20 24 N. Carolina 150 63 80 0 0 0 7 5 2 0 0 0 143 58 78 Oklahoma 46 22 21 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 46 21 22 S. Carolina 37 16 21 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 35 16 19 Tennessee 63 32 30 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 60 32 27 Texas 244 132 108 4 3 1 7 2 5 7 5 2 234 128 102 Virginia 7 4 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 1 1 3 1 2

West 1,008 635 331 17 13 3 17 13 4 0 0 0 1,008 635 330 Arizona 119 95 18 4 2 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 120 94 19 California 742 439 271 9 7 2 9 8 1 0 0 0 742 438 272 Colorado 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 Idaho 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 0 Montana 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Nevada 81 48 31 4 4 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 83 51 30 New Mexico 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Oregon 32 28 3 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 30 27 2 Utah 9 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 7 1 Washington 9 5 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 8 5 3 Wyoming 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Note: Some counts shown for year-end 2016 are revised from those reported in Capital Punishment, 2016 (NCJ 251430, BJS web, April 2018). The revised counts include 5 prisoners who were either reported late to the National Prisoner Statistics program or were not in the custody of state correctional authorities on December 31, 2016 (1 in Alabama and 4 in California), and they exclude 23 prisoners who BJS has since learned were relieved of a death sentence before December 31, 2016 (15 in Pennsylvania, 4 in California, 2 in Nevada, and 1 each in Alabama and Oregon). Counts for December 31, 2016, also include 1 prisoner in Arizona who was erroneously reported as being removed from under sentence of death. aIncludes 21 deaths from natural causes (5 each in North Carolina and California; 2 each in Texas and Arizona; and 1 each in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Nevada, and Washington), 2 deaths by suicide (1 each in Ohio and Oklahoma), and 1 death resulting from a trafc accident (Florida). bTwo of the white prisoners executed in Texas were of Hispanic or Latino origin; none of the black prisoners executed were of Hispanic or Latino origin. This is refected in the U.S. and state totals. cBased on U.S. Census Bureau’s regions and divisions of the United States. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf dIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacifc Islanders; and persons of Hispanic or Latino origin for whom no other race was identifed. eIncludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin. fExcludes persons held under U.S. Armed Forces jurisdiction with a military death sentence for murder. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics – Capital Punishment, 2017.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, 2017: SELECTED FINDINGS | JULY 2019 3

TABLE 3 Average time between sentencing and execution, 1977–2017

Average elapsed time Year Number executed from sentence to execution*

Total 1,465 143 mos. 1977 1 3 1978 0 : 1979 2 42 1980 0 : 1981 1 13 1982 2 53 1983 5 71 1984 21 74 1985 18 71 1986 18 87 1987 25 86 1988 11 80 1989 16 95 1990 23 95 1991 14 116 1992 31 114 1993 38 113 1994 31 122 1995 56 134 1996 45 125 1997 74 133 1998 68 130 1999 98 143 2000 85 137 2001 66 142 2002 71 127 2003 65 131 2004 59 132 2005 60 147 2006 53 145 2007 42 153 2008 37 139 2009 52 169 2010 46 178 2011 43 198 2012 43 190 2013 39 186 2014 35 218 2015 28 195 2016 20 204 2017 23 243 Note: In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated capital punishment statutes in several states (Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)), efecting a moratorium on executions. Executions resumed in 1977, when the Supreme Court found that revisions to statutes in several states had efectively addressed the issues previously held unconstitutional (Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976) and its companion cases). :Not applicable. *Average time was calculated from the most recent sentencing date. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics – Capital Punishment, 2017.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, 2017: SELECTED FINDINGS | JULY 2019 4

Te Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal ofenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and participates with national and international organizations to develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics. Jefrey H. Anderson is the director.

Te content in this report was compiled and prepared by Tracy L. Snell. Todd Minton verifed the report.

Edrienne Su edited the report. Carrie Epps produced the report.

July 2019, NCJ 253060

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