The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has released the latest Death Row U.S.A. report, covering death penalty statistics through January 1, 2009. The total number of death row inmates decreased from 3,309 a year earlier to 3,297. The states with the largest number of death row inmates were California with 678, Florida with 402, and Texas with 358. The states (with 10 or more inmates) with the highest percent of minorities on death row were Texas at 70%, Connecticut at 70%, and Pennsylvania with 69%. The complete Death Row U.S.A. report may be found here.
The size of death row increased steadily after the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, but has dropped slowly since 2000. Among the larger changes in death row sizes since one year ago are: California: +11, Tennessee: -10, Texas: -15. Death Row USA also contains information about executions by state and by race, and summaries of important Supreme Court cases that may affect capital cases. (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., “Death Row U.S.A. Winter 2009,” 2009). See Studies, Race, and Death Row.
