Race of Death Row Inmates Executed Since 1976

in

National Statistics on the Death Penalty and Race

Executions by Race Since 1976

Death Row Populations by Race



National Statistics on the Death Penalty and Race


Execution information accurate as of November 20, 2009 following an execution in Texas


RACE OF DEFENDANTS EXECUTED IN THE U.S. SINCE 1976
BLACK
411 34%
HISPANIC 86 7%
WHITE
663 57%
OTHER
24 2%

NOTE: The federal government counts some categories, such as Hispanics, as an ethnic group rather than a race. DPIC refers to all groups as races because the sources for much of our information use these categories.
RACE OF VICTIMS SINCE 1976
BLACK
255 14%
HISPANIC 99 5%
WHITE
1365 79%
OTHER
41 2%

NOTE: Number of Victims refers to the victims in the underlying murder in cases where an execution has occurred since the restoration of the death penalty in 1976. There are more victims than executions because some cases involve more than one victim.
"In 82% of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."
- United States General Accounting Office, Death Penalty Sentencing, February 1990
PERSONS EXECUTED FOR INTERRACIAL MURDERS IN THE U.S. SINCE 1976
The cases represented in this graph are cases of one defendant executed for the murder of one or more victims of one race. Cases involving multiple victims of several different races are not included here. White Defendant / Black Victim (15)


Black Defendant / White Victim (245)

CURRENT U.S. DEATH ROW POPULATION BY RACE
BLACK
1,376 41.6%
HISPANIC
365 11.0%
WHITE
1,487 45.0%
OTHER
77 2.3%

(Death Row Population Figures from NAACP-LDF "Death Row USA (July 1, 2008)"



Executions by Race Since 1976


 

Execution information accurate as of November 19, 2009 following an executions in Texas
 
State Total Black White Latino Asian Native Amer.
Alabama 44 21 23 0 0 0
Arizona 23 0 18 4 0 1
Arkansas 27 7 19 1 0 0
California 13 2 8 0 1 2
Colorado 1 0 1 0 0 0
Connecticut 1 0 1 0 0 0
Delaware 14 6 7 0 0 1
Florida 68 21 42 4 0 1
Georgia 45 15 30 0 0 0
Idaho 1 0 1 0 0 0
Illinois 12 5 7 0 0 0
Indiana 19 3 16 0 0 0
Kansas 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kentucky 3 0 3 0 0 0
Louisiana 27 13 14 0 0 0
Maryland 5 3 2 0 0 0
Mississippi 10 3 7 0 0 0
Missouri 67 26 40 0 0 1
Montana 3 0 3 0 0 0
Nebraska 3 2 1 0 0 0
Nevada 12 1 9 1 1 0
New Hampshire 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Jersey 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Mexico 1 0 1 0 0 0
New York 0 0 0 0 0 0
North Carolina 43 13 29 0 0 1
Ohio 32 11 21 0 0 0
Oklahoma 91 26 56 0 2 6
Oregon 2 0 2 0 0 0
Pennsylvania 3 0 3 0 0 0
South Carolina 42 16 26 0 0 0
South Dakota 1 0 1 0 0 0
Tennessee 5 0 5 0 0 0
Texas 446 166 203 73 2 2
Utah 6 2 4 0 0 0
Virginia 105 48 54 2 1 0
Washington 4 0 4 0 0 0
Wyoming 1 0 1 0 0 0
US Gov't 3 1 1 1 0 0
US Military 0 0 0 0 0 0





Current Death Row Populations by Race
as of January 1, 2009


State Total Black White Latino Asian Native Amer.
Alabama 207 99 105 3 0 0
Arizona 129 13 91 21 0 4
Arkansas 42 25 17 0 0 0
California 678 244 252 148 22 12
Colorado 3 2 0 1 0 0
Connecticut 10 6 3 1 0 0
Delaware 20 10 7 3 0 0
Florida 402 139 224 36 1 1
Georgia 109 51 54 3 1 0
Idaho 18 0 18 0 0 0
Illinois 15 5 8 2 0 0
Indiana 17 4 13 0 0 0
Kansas 10 4 6 0 0 0
Kentucky 36 6 29 1 0 0
Louisiana 84 53 27 3 1 0
Maryland 5 4 1 0 0 0
Mississippi 61 32 28 0 1 0
Missouri 52 22 30 0 0 0
Montana 2 0 2 0 0 0
Nebraska 10 1 5 4 0 0
Nevada 79 31 39 8 1 0
New Hampshire 1 1 0 0 0 0
New Mexico 2 0 2 0 0 0
North Carolina 167 88 65 4 1 9
Ohio 181 93 81 3 2 2
Oklahoma 86 34 45 3 0 4
Oregon* 35 3 28 2 0 1
Pennsylvania 226 136 70 18 2 0
South Carolina 63 33 29 1 0 0
South Dakota 3 0 3 0 0 0
Tennessee 92 39 48 2 0 1
Texas 358 143 107 104 4 0
Utah 10 1 6 2 0 1
Virginia 18 9 8 1 0 0
Washington 9 4 5 0 0 0
Wyoming 1 0 1 0 0 0
US Gov't 55 30 22 2 0 1
US Military 9 6 2 0 1 0

* One member of Death Row's race is not currently identified

(Some inmates were sentenced to death in more than one state, resulting in a total slightly higher than 3,307 when the individual states are combined.)

Figures from NAACP-LDF "Death Row USA (January 1, 2009)"


Return to Race and the Death Penalty

Return to Execution Information