Info & Resources

The death penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to sea. We hear about shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships the lighthouse guides safely on their way. We do not have proof of the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the lighthouse down. - poet Hyman Barshay

Click here for a map with
death penalty facts by state

See

for state-specific sites

Numbers of prisoners on death row in each state
Alabama - 196 as of 01/05	Florida - 382 as of 01/05	Louisiana - 94 as of 01/05	New Hampshire - 0 as of 01/05	Oregon - 32 as of 01/05	Virginia - 23 as of 01/02
Arizona - 131 as of 01/05	Georgia - 113 as of 01/05	Maryland - 9 as of 01/05	New Jersey - 15 as of 01/05	Pennsylvania - 231 as of 01/05	Washington - 11 as of 01/02
Arkansas - 38 as of 01/05	Idaho - 20 as of 01/05	Mississippi - 70 as of 01/05	New Mexico - 2 as of 01/05	South Carolina - 74 as of 01/05	Wyoming - 2 as of 01/02
California - 639 as of 01/05	Illinois - 9 as of 01/05	Missouri - 57 as of 01/05	New York - 2 as of 01/05	South Dakota - 4 as of 01/05
Colorado - 3 as of 01/05	Indiana - 35 as of 01/05	Montana - 4 as of 01/05	North Carolina - 197 as of 01/05	Tennessee - 106 as of 01/05
Connecticut - 8 as of 01/05	Kansas - 7 as of 01/05	Nebraska - 8 as of 01/05	Ohio - 202 as of 01/05	Texas - 447 as of 01/05	Federal - 35 as of 02/02
Delaware - 19 as of 01/05	Kentucky - 36 as of 01/05	Nevada - 86 as of 01/05	Oklahoma - 98 as of 01/05	Utah - 10 as of 01/05	Military - 7 as of 01/02

States that do not have the death penalty
Alaska	Maine	Minnesota	Vermont
Hawaii	Massachusetts	North Dakota	West Virginia
Iowa	Michigan	Rhode Island	Wisconsin
Additionally, the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia does not have a death penalty.

Death penalty laws by state: Court TV has a good resource for the laws of each state pertaining to the death penalty. This is a MAP that shows death penalty states. Or you can click on the individual states listed above to access the Court TV information. The detail page also shows the minimum age for the death penalty and how many executions have been carried out since the death penalty was reinstated. I don't know how up-to-date this info is.

Executions by Year

YEAR
1976 1977 1978 1979

Executions
0 1 0 2

YEAR 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Executions 0 1 2 5 21 18 18 25 11 16

YEAR 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Executions 23 14 31 38 31 56 45 74 68 98

YEAR 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Executions 85 66 71 65 59

How can deterrence statistics be skewed?
Deja.com message: DPIC

Policy Debate: Is the death penalty an efficient crime deterrent?

Policies regarding victim survivors witnessing executions
These states currently allow victim survivors to witness executions. Some states allow only relatives and some allow friends as well. The number of witnesses allowed varies from state to state. Contact the DOC of each state for more information.

State	Notes	State	Notes
Alabama	Victim witnesses are allowed.
California		Ohio
Delaware	Relatives of both the victim and the condemned are allowed to witness an execution. Friends are not allowed. It is left to the discretion of the Warden and DOC officials regarding who may witness an execution.	Oklahoma
Florida		Oregon	Immediate family of victim - parents, spouse, siblings, children, or grandparents of the decedent, including step relationships.
Georgia	2 victim witnesses allowed	Pennsylvania	Up to four victim witnesses are allowed. Victims must be registered with the Office of the Victim Advocate.
Illinois	by closed circuit television only	South Carolina	The victim's family is allowed 3 witnesses. If there is more than 1 victim, the number of family representatives may be reduced to 1 for each victim family. Further, if there are more than 2 victims, the total number of victims' representatives present may be restricted in accordance with the space limitation of the facility.
Louisiana		Texas	5 victim witnesses are allowed
Montana	No victim witnesses allowed	Utah
New Mexico	No victim witnesses allowed	Virginia
New Hampshire	No rules in place	Washington	Victim witnesses, number determined by superintendent
North Carolina	Two members of the crime victim’s family are allowed to view the execution.

Department of Corrections Victims Services Divisions

Page last updated on 11/29/06
Page visited times since 11/23/01