When it comes to the ultimate punishment, the United States is an outlier among developed nations. And only a handful of nations worldwide execute more of its citizens than the U.S.
Amanda Lee MyersUSA TODAY
It’s going to be a busy summer for executions in the United States, with five men scheduled to be put to death before the start of September, while another three set to die before January.
At more than 1,570 executions in the past five decades, the United States is an outlier among developed nations when it comes to the ultimate punishment, with more than 70% of nations globally having banned the practice, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
In 2020, for instance, only five other countries executed more of its citizens than the United States: China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to the center. Globally in 2023, the number of people put to death jumped by 30%, making it the deadliest year in nearly a decade, according to a new report released Tuesday by Amnesty International.
With the U.S. on pace to execute at least 16 prisoners this year, and more expected to be scheduled, USA TODAY looked at the states that have executed the most inmates, which states have banned the practice, and how many innocent people have been put to death in the process.
What states still have the death penalty?
Twenty-one states have the death penalty. They are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Six states still consider the death penalty legal but have put executions on hold for various reasons, like the shaky reliability of execution drugs: Arizona, California, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
The rest of the United States − 23 in total − do not have the death penalty, including red states like North Dakota and Alaska, and the bluest of states, like Vermont and Massachusetts.
Who is executing the most inmates?
Texas has executed the most inmates of any other state in the nation, and it's not even close. The Lone Star state has put 588 inmates to death since 1982, including the June 26 execution of Ramiro Gonzales for the rape and murder of 18-year-old Bridget Townsend. Eight of those were last year alone and the state is on pace to put six more men to death by the end of 2024.
The following are the five states with the most executions since the early 1980s, according to the Death Penalty Information Center:
- Texas, 588
- Oklahoma, 124
- Virginia, 113
- Florida, 105
- Missouri, 99
How many executions will there be in 2024?
So far this year, there have been eight executions, one each in Georgia and Oklahoma, and two each in Texas, Alabama and Missouri.
There are eight more currently scheduled through the end of the year: Richard Norman Rojem Jr. in Oklahoma on June 27, Ruben Gutierrez in Texas on July 16, Keith Edmund Gavin in Alabama on July 18, Arthur Lee Burton in Texas on Aug. 7, Taberon Dave Honie in Utah on Aug. 8, Travis James Mullis in Texas on Sept. 24, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams in Missouri on Sept. 24, and Alan Eugene Miller in Alabama on Sept. 26.
More executions are expected to be scheduled before the end of 2024 but it's unclear how many exactly.
Most recently, Ramiro Gonzales was executed by lethal injection in Texas on June 26 for the rape and murder of 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, a woman who was just getting her start in life and waiting to hear back about a nursing school application.
How many innocent people have been executed?
It's impossible to say how many innocent people have been executed but we do know that dozens and dozens of inmates have been wrongfully sentenced to death in the past five decades. Some have spent decades of their lives in prison before being exonerated.
One June 19 in Texas, the state's Court of Criminal Appeals exonerated Kerry Max Cook after he spent nearly 20 years on death row in the murder of Linda Jo Edwards. The court found him innocent, writing in its opinion that the case "is riddled with allegations of State misconduct that warrant setting aside" Cook's conviction.
At least 190 people have been exonerated from death row in the U.S. since 1973, largely Black and Latinx inmates who are wrongfully convicted at a higher rate than white people, according to the Death Penalty Information Center and the Innocence Project.
A 2014 study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that at least 4% of people sentenced to death are innocent.
Contributing: Michael Loria
