While the death penalty is legal in 27 states, including three that have moratoriums but not bans on the practice, many states have not carried out an execution in the past five or ten years.
21 states executed one or more inmates in the last 10 years (including three states that have since banned the death penalty: Delaware, Virginia, and Washington) and 13 states in the past five years (including one state that has since banned the penalty: Virginia).
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many executions may have been delayed in 2020 and 2021.
The US Supreme Court invalidated all death penalty laws on June 29, 1972 with the Furman v. Georgia ruling. The federal government and each state had to amend all death penalty laws to comply with the ruling, which is why no state has a legal death penalty older than 1973.
| Death Penalty Status | Year of Most Recent Execution | Number of Executions in Last 10 Years (2010-2020) | Number of Executions in Last 5 Years (2015-2020) | Number of Death Row Inmates (Dec. 31, 2019) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | Legal (1988) Several moratoriums* | 2021 | 13 | 13 | 61 |
| Alabama | Legal (1976) | 2020 | 23 | 11 | 175 |
| Alaska | Illegal (1957) | 1950 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | Legal (1973) | 2017 | 14 | 0 | 116 |
| Arkansas | Legal (1973) | 2017 | 4 | 4 | 30 |
| California | Legal (1977) Moratorium (2019) | 2006 | 0 | 0 | 724 |
| Colorado | Illegal (2020) | 1997 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Connecticut | Illegal (2012) | 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DC | Illegal (1981) | 1957 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | Illegal (2016) | 2012 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | Legal (1973) | 2019 | 31 | 10 | 340 |
| Georgia | Legal (1973) | 2020 | 30 | 21 | 46 |
| Hawaii | Illegal (1957) | 1944 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | Legal (1973) | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Illinois | Moratorium (2000) Illegal (2011) | 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana | Legal (1973) | 2009 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Iowa | Illegal (1965) | 1963 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | Legal (1994) | 1965 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Kentucky | Legal (1975) | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Louisiana | Legal (1973) | 2010 | 1 | 0 | 68 |
| Maine | Illegal (1887) | 1885 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | Illegal (2013) | 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | Illegal (1984) | 1947 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | Illegal (1846 except treason) Illegal (1964 all crimes) | 1830 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | Illegal (1911) | 1906 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi | Legal (1974) | 2012 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
| Missouri | Legal (1975) | 2020 | 23 | 10 | 22 |
| Montana | Legal (1974) | 2006 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nebraska | Illegal (2015) Legal (2016) | 2018 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Nevada | Legal (1973) | 2006 | 0 | 0 | 71 |
| New Hampshire | Illegal (2019) | 1939 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| New Jersey | Illegal (2007) | 1963 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | Illegal (2009) | 2001 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York | Illegal (2004 or 2007)** | 1963 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | Legal (1977) | 2006 | 0 | 0 | 143 |
| North Dakota | Illegal (1915 except treason and already-jailed murderers) Illegal (1973 all crimes) | 1905 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | Legal (1973) | 2018 | 23 | 3 | 139 |
| Oklahoma | Legal (1973)*** | 2015 | 21 | 1 | 46 |
| Oregon | Legal (1984) Moratorium (2011) | 1997 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Pennsylvania | Legal (1978) Moratorium (2015) | 1999 | 0 | 0 | 134 |
| Rhode Island | Illegal (1984) | 1845 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Legal (1974) | 2011 | 1 | 0 | 36 |
| South Dakota | Legal (1979) | 2019 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Tennessee | Legal (1974) | 2020 | 7 | 7 | 52 |
| Texas | Legal (1974) | 2021 | 125 | 54 | 216 |
| Utah | Legal (1973) | 2010 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Vermont | Illegal (1987) | 1954 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | Illegal (2021) | 2017 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Washington | Moratorium (2014) Illegal (2018) | 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | Illegal (1965) | 1959 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | Illegal (1853) | 1851 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wyoming | Legal (1977) | 1992 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
*The federal death penalty has only been carried out 16 times since its reinstatement after Furman v. Georgia in 1988: twice in 2001, once in 2003, ten times in 2020, and three times in 2021. Several moratoriums have been put in place by presidents in the interims.
**New York’s death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional in 2004 and 2007. Some sources list 2004 as the year of abolishment, while others list 2007
***Oklahoma has technically had a moratorium on the death penalty since a botched execution in 2015. Because the state has been actively working to resume executions in the interim, ProCon does not consider Oklahoma a moratorium state.
Sources
Associated Press, “Infamous Iowa Murderer Dustin Honken to Be Executed in 2020,” desmoinesregister.com, July 25, 2019
Nancy Burghart, “Capital Punishment Information,” doc.ks.gov, July 20, 2021
R.L. Cartwright, “February 13, 1906: Minnesota’s Last Legal Execution,” minnpost.com, Feb. 12, 2013
Death Penalty Information Center, “District of Columbia: Notable Cases,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
Death Penalty Information Center, “Executions by State and Year,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 25, 2021)
Death Penalty Information Center, “Executions Under the Federal Death Penalty,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 25, 2021)
Death Penalty Information Center, “Massachusetts: History of the Death Penalty,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
Death Penalty Information Center, “New Hampshire: Famous Capital Cases,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
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Death Penalty Information Center, “States With No Recent Executions,” deathpenaltyinfo.org, May 6, 2021
Death Penalty Information Center, “West Virginia: History of the Death Penalty,” deathpenaltyinfo.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)
Bill Doyle, “The Last Man Executed in New Jersey,” nj1015.com, Jan. 22, 2021
John Lippman, “Vermont Historical Society Stores Windsor State Prison’s Electric Chair,” vnews.com, Aug. 14, 2017
Erin Rhoda, “7 Things You Should Know about the Death Penalty,” bangordailynews.com, Apr. 26, 2015
Dale V. Sandstrom, “Four Capital Murder Trials since the Last Execution in 1905,” ndcourts.gov, Sep. 7, 2006
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, “Hawaii Set to Have Death Penalty Trial — Despite Abolishing Capital Punishment in 1957,” businessinsider.com, Mar. 8, 2014
Tracy L. Snell, “Capital Punishment, 2019 – Statistical Tables,” bjs.gov, June 2021
State Bar of Michigan, “Michigan Legal Milestones: 41. First to Abolish the Death Penalty,” michbar.org, Nov. 6, 2018
Wisconsin Historical Society, “The Death Penalty in Wisconsin,” wisconsinhistory.org (accessed Aug. 26, 2021)