DPIC is pleased to announce the completion of our State Information Pagesfor all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These state profiles provide historical and current information on the death penalty for each state, including famous cases, past legislative actions, and links to key organizations and state officials. For frequently updated information, such as execution totals, the size of death row, or the number of exonerations, see our State-by-State Database. Readers are encouraged to send additional information, pictures, and links to organizations in their state. You can reach the State Information Pages through the "State by State" button at the top of every page on our website or under the "Resources" tab in our main menu.
On June 13, 2011, law professor and noted researcher David Baldus died in Iowa City, IA. Professor Baldus had been a professor at the University of Iowa since 1969 and taught criminal law, anti-discrimination law, and capital punishment and federal criminal law. He was nationally recognized for his research on the death penalty. Professor Baldus conducted many studies regarding the implementation of capital punishment in the United States. One well-known study, conducted in 1983, examined the presence of racial discrimination in capital sentencing in Georgia. Baldus’s research found that the odds of defendants receiving the death penalty were 4.3 times greater if they were accused of killing white victims than if they were accused of killing black victims. Professor Baldus received national recognition when his studies were cited in McCleskey v. Kemp, a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding racial bias in the implementation of the death penalty. “He was one of the nation’s outstanding law professors and a great citizen of the university," said Sandy Boyd, former president of the University of Iowa. “He had a great warmth and concern for others.”
Although the United States is considered a death penalty country, executions are rare or non-existent in much of the nation. 26 of 53 jurisdictions in the U.S. (50 states, the District of Columbia, the Federal Government, and the Military) either do not have the death penalty or have not carried out an execution in at least 10 years. Most of those have not carried out an execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates NEW YORK TIMES
September 22, 2000
States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates
By RAYMOND BONNER and FORD FESSENDEN
The dozen states that have chosen not to enact the death penalty since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that it was constitutionally permissible have not had higher homicide rates than states with the death penalty, government statistics and a new survey by The New York Times show.
DPIC is pleased to announce the completion of our 
On June 13, 2011, law professor and noted researcher David Baldus died in Iowa City, IA. Professor Baldus had been a professor at the University of Iowa since 1969 and taught criminal law, anti-discrimination law, and capital punishment and federal criminal law. He was nationally recognized for his research on the death penalty. Professor Baldus conducted many studies regarding the implementation of capital punishment in the United States. One well-known study, conducted in 1983, examined the presence of racial discrimination in capital sentencing in Georgia. Baldus’s research found that the odds of defendants receiving the death penalty were 4.3 times greater if they were accused of killing white victims than if they were accused of killing black victims. Professor Baldus received national recognition when his studies were cited in McCleskey v. Kemp, a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding racial bias in the implementation of the death penalty. “He was one of the nation’s outstanding law professors and a great citizen of the university," said Sandy Boyd, former president of the University of Iowa. “He had a great warmth and concern for others.”