Capital Punishment | Bureau of Justice Statistics

Capital punishment refers to the process of sentencing convicted offenders to death for the most serious crimes (capital crimes) and carrying ... Skiptomaincontent Officialwebsitesuse.gov A.govwebsitebelongstoanofficialgovernmentorganizationintheUnitedStates. Secure.govwebsitesuseHTTPS Alock( LockAlockedpadlock )orhttps://meansyou’vesafelyconnectedtothe.govwebsite.Sharesensitiveinformationonlyonofficial,securewebsites. Home Topics Corrections CapitalPunishment Description TheBureauofJusticeStatistics(BJS)collectsdataonpersonsheldundersentenceofdeathandpersonsexecutedduringthecalendaryearfromthestatedepartmentofcorrectionsandtheFederalBureauofPrisons,see CapitalPunishment series.Reportsproducedfromthiscollectionsummarizethemovementofprisonersintoandoutofdeathsentencestatus.Thedatadescribeprisoners’sex,race,Hispanicorigin,education,maritalstatus,ageattimeofarrestforthecapitaloffense,andlegalstatusatthetimeoftheoffense.Reportsalsoincludeinformationonremovals,includingexecutiontrendsandtimebetweenimpositionofdeathsentenceandexecution. BJSalsocollectspreliminarycountsofexecutionsduringthefollowingyeartoprovidewebuserswiththemostrecentavailabledata,see Prisonersexecuted. RecentPublications PrisonersExecuted CapitalPunishment,2020–StatisticalTables CapitalPunishment,2019–StatisticalTables Viewrelatedpublications RecentDataCollections CapitalPunishment(NPS-8) ViewrelatedDataCollections Howmanyoffendershavebeenexecuted? In2021,11inmateswereexecutedintheUnitedStates.TheBureauofJusticeStatistics'(BJS)CapitalPunishmentreportspresentcharacteristicsofpersonsundersentenceofdeathandpersonsexecuted,andsummarizethemovementofprisonersintoandoutofdeathsentencestatus.SeePrisonersexecutedundercivilauthorityintheUnitedStates,byyear,region,andjurisdictionforadditionaldataonexecutions. Whyaredatasodifficulttocompareoveryears? Cautionmustbeusedwhenusingtrenddata,asdefinitionsandreportingcapabilitieschangeovertime.SomechangesindefinitionsareduetoBJSinitiativestoimprovecounting(suchasseparatingoutstateinmatesheldinprivatefacilitiesorlocaljails),somemaybedrivenbytheOfficeofManagementandBudget(suchaschangesinracialandethnicdefinitions),andsomemaybenotedbythereportedjurisdiction(suchasnoncitizeninmatecounts,includingthosewhowereforeign-born).  Wheneverpossible,BJSnotesthesedifferencesandencouragesuserstocheckfootnoteswithintablesandjurisdictionnoteswithinreportstobetterunderstandwhycomparabilitycanvaryfromstate-to-stateoryear-to-year. Note: Whenyouseeasharpincreaseordeclineinayear-to-yearcount,itisrecommendedtoverifytherewasnochangeindefinitionorcountingmethod. Whydodatatakesolongtocollectandpublish? Datacollectionsvaryinscope,burden,andfrequencyofcollection-(seeindividualdatacollectiondescriptionsformoreinformation).Generally,BJScollectsdatabothfrom administrativerecordsandfrominterviewswithprisonandjailinmates.AlldatacollectionsmustbeapprovedbytheOfficeofManagementandBudget(OMB)priortofielding,whichtakesseveralmonths.Collectionsmustberesubmittedforapprovalevery3years(sooneriftherearechangesinthedatacollection).Fordatathatarecollectedthroughinmateinterviews,theremustalsobeanInstitutionalReviewBoard(IRB)toprotecthumansubjects(priortoOMBsubmission),andindividualjurisdictionsmayrequireadditionalreviewspriortoparticipation. Alldatacollectionisvoluntary.WithoutaspecificmandatebyCongress,nojurisdictioniscompelledtoparticipateinourdatacollections;individualsurveysareconductedonlywithpersonsgrantingformalconsenttoparticipate.Mostjurisdictionschoosetoparticipatebecausetheinformationishelpfulforpolicyandpracticeandmaybeusedtoallocatefunding.Ittakestimetoachieveacompleteenumeration,particularlyintimesofstaffshortagesandbudgetcutsinmanylevelsofgovernment. AdministrativecollectionsaresentoutclosetothereferencedateinthesurveyandareduetoBJS2to3monthslater.Mostrespondentssubmitthedataontime,butforvariousreasons,otherjurisdictionstakelongertosubmitthedata.BJSstafforcontractorstaffworkwithjurisdictionstoobtainthenecessaryinformation,whichcantakeanadditional3months. Afterdataarecollected,theymustthenbecleaned,weighted(inthecaseofsamplepopulations),andanalyzed.BJSstaffhasseveralmethodsofrelease,includingaformalreport,statistical/electronictables,orasummarybrief.Alldataarefullyverifiedpriortorelease.Keepinginmindthateachdatacollectionisdifferentandthetimesmayvarysignificantlydependingonthecollectionofinterest,providedbelowisanaveragedatacollectionandprocessingtimetable: Collection,5–6months(fromreferencedate)foradministrativesurveys;8–12forinterviewsurveys Cleaning/weighting,1–2monthsforadministrativesurveys;3–6forinterviewsurveys Analysis/verification,2–12months,dependingonsurveytypeandcomplexityofanalysis Preparationtodisseminate,2–3months ViewallrelatedFAQs Terms&Definitions Capitalpunishment Capitalpunishmentreferstotheprocessofsentencingconvictedoffenderstodeathforthemostseriouscrimes(capitalcrimes)andcarryingoutthatsentence.ThespecificoffensesandcircumstancesthatdetermineifacrimeiseligibleforadeathsentencearedefinedbystatuteandareprescribedbyCongressoranystatelegislature. Deathrow Deathrowreferstoincarceratedpersonswhohavebeensentencedtodeathandareawaitingexecution(asin"inmatesondeathrow").Historically,deathrowwasaslangtermthatreferredtotheareaofaprisoninwhichprisonerswhowereunderasentenceofdeathwerehoused.Usageofthetermcontinuesdespitethefactthatmanystatesdonotmaintainaseparateunitorfacilityforcondemnedinmates. DateCreated:February18,2021 Sidenavigation Corrections CapitalPunishment CommunityCorrections CorrectionalInstitutions SexualVictimizationinCorrectionalFacilities(PREA) Courts Crime FederalJusticeSystem ForensicSciences LawEnforcement RecidivismandReentry TribalCrimeandJustice VictimsofCrime