Society and Culture > Crime & Law Enforcement > Incarceration and Capital Punishment

Characteristics of Prisoners Under Sentence of Death

Characteristic	1980	1990	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2003	2004	2008
Race and age
White	418	1,368	1,732	1,833	1,864	1,917	1,948	1,998	1,882	1,850	1,798
Black and other	270	978	1,332	1,409	1,464	1,548	1,579	1,612	1,495	1,464	1,338
Under 20 years	11	8	20	17	16	16	16	11	1	1	0
20 to 24 years	173	168	264	288	275	273	251	237	133	95	44
25 to 34 years	334	1,110	1,068	1,088	1,077	1,108	1,108	1,103	965	896	610
35 to 54 years	186	1,006	1,583	1.711	1.809	1,897	1,958	2,019	1,969	1,977	2,076
55 years and over	10	64	19	138	151	171	194	223	306	345	477
Years of schooling completed
7 years or less	68	178	191	196	205	208	201	214	213	207	n.a.
8 years	74	186	195	201	206	218	221	233	227	221	432
9 to 11 years	204	775	979	1,040	1,069	1,122	1,142	1,157	1,073	1,053	1,170
12 years	162	729	995	1,037	1,084	1,128	1,157	1,184	1,108	1,091	1,308
More than 12 years	43	209	272	282	288	301	307	315	270	262	295
Unknown	163	279	422	486	476	488	499	490	483	480	528
Marital status
Never married	268	998	1,412	1,507	1,555	1,645	1,689	1,749	1,641	1,622	1,754
Married	229	632	718	739	740	752	731	739	684	658	711
Divorced¹	217	726	924	996	1,033	1,068	1,107	1,105	1,049	1,034	644
Time elapsed since sentencing
Less than 12 months	185	231	287	306	262	293	259	208	137	117	n.a.
12 to 47 months	389	753	784	816	844	816	800	786	495	421	n.a.
48 to 71 months	102	438	423	447	456	482	499	507	451	388	n.a.
72 months and over	38	934	1,560	1,673	1,766	1,874	1,969	2,092	2,291	2,388	n.a.
Legal status at arrest
Not under sentence	384	1,345	1,764	1,881	1,957	2,036	2,088	2,202	2,048	2,026	1,949
Parole or probation²	115	578	866	894	880	879	886	921	845	809	830
Prison or escaped	45	128	110	112	116	127	125	126	137	145	163
Unknown	170	305	314	355	375	423	428	344	344	334	347
Total	688	2,346	3,064	3,242	3,328	3,465	3,527	3,601	3,377	3,314	3,289

NOTE: Excludes prisoners under sentence of death confined in local correctional systems pending appeal or who have not been committed to prison.

1. Includes persons married but separated, widows, widowers, and unknown.

2. Includes prisoners on mandatory conditional release, work release, leave, AWOL, or bail.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Capital Punishment, annual, from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2007; Capital Punishment 2008.

Number of Persons Executed by Jurisdiction, 1930–2005

Incarceration and Capital Punishment

Women on Death Row

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