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News and Developments 2005: Death Row

RESOURCE: Fall 2005 Death Row USA Available

Posted: December 15, 2005
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The latest edition of Death Row USA from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is now available. The report reveals that the number of people on death rows across the country dropped by almost 90 inmates from one year ago. There were 3,471 inmates on death row as of October 1, 2004. In 2005, the death row population had shrunk to 3,383. California's death row remains the largest in the country with 648 people, followed by Texas (414), Florida (388), and Pennsylvania (233).

Size of Death Row Continues to Decline

Posted: August 11, 2005
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According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's quarterly report, Death Row U.S.A., the number of people on death rows around the country declined again as of July 1, 2005.  The latest count of inmates is 3,415, down from 3,452 as of April 1 and down considerably from the 3,692 inmates recorded on October 1, 2002.  About 54.5% of those on death row are members of racial minorities.  Pennsylvania (70%) and Texas (69%) had the largest percentage of minority defendants on death row.

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Releases New "Death Row USA"

Posted: June 10, 2005
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According to the latest edition of Death Row USA published by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), the size of death row decreased again as of April 1, 2005.  After increasing steadily for about 25 years, the death row population started decreasing in 2000.  The current total for state and federal death rows is 3,452.  On October 1, 2002, LDF reported a death row population of 3,697.  This latest report counts 72 offenders who were juveniles at the time of their crime, though these individuals will all be removed from death row once official action has been taken in re

Time on Death Row

Posted: April 04, 2005
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JusticeBlue

 Introduction

The length of time prisoners spend on death row in the United States before their executions has recently emerged as a topic of interest in the debate about the death penalty. The discussion has been spurred by the scheduled execution of Michael Ross, a Connecticut inmate who has been on death row for 17 years, and by the writings of two Supreme Court Justices who have urged the Court to consider this issue.

TIME ON DEATH ROW

Posted: April 01, 2005
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LATEST DATA FROM "DEATH ROW USA" SHOWS CONTINUING DECLINE

Posted: February 23, 2005
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LATEST DATA FROM "DEATH ROW USA" SHOW CONTINUING DECLINE

The January 1, 2005 figures from "Death Row USA," a publication of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Capital Punishment Project, show another decline in the number of inmates on death rows across the U.S. A comparison with previous issues of this publication show the trend:

Date Size of Death Row
Jan. 1, 2003
3,692

Growing Elderly Population on Death Row

Posted: February 14, 2005
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A record 110 persons aged 60 and older were on death rows across the United States at the end of 2003, a number that is nearly triple the 39 death row seniors counted nine years ago by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, according to an article in USA Today.  In many states, elderly prisoners who are not on death row are housed in geriatric facilities within prisons or they are placed in "end of life" programs, but these programs are not offered to seniors facing the death penalty.