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Statistics: Death Row Inmates Declined for Fourth Year
by Anai Rhoads
14 November 2005
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AnaiRhoads.org -
The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced
Sunday that there were a total of 3,315 federal and state death row inmates
by the end of 2004. This number reflects 63 less inmates when compared
to 2003. The department considers this to be an improvement since it is
the fourth straight year of decline in the numbers of inmates awaiting
death.
Prisoners under death sentences decreased as follows:
- 3,601 by the end of 2000
- 3,577 by the end of 2001
- 3,562 by the end of 2002
- 3,378 by the end of 2003
A total of 59 prisoners were executed in prisons spanning 12 States in
2004. Compared to the 2003 statistics, there were only six fewer in
2004. Also during 2004, 125 inmates entered prison with death
sentences, which was the lowest number since 44 were admitted in 1973.
This makes it the second year in which death row admissions dropped
(169 were admitted in 2002 and 152 in 2003).
Race and Gender Statistics
Of those awaiting execution on December 31, 2004, 56 percent were
white, 42 percent black, and only 2 percent were of other races. A
total of 367 Hispanic inmates under death row were 13 percent of all
prisoners, where ethnicity was known.
All 59 inmates in the 2004 report were men. Thirty-nine were white,
which only three were Hispanic. Nineteen African-Americans and one
Asian made up the rest. Only one of the 59 were electrocuted, while the
rest were given a lethal injection.
While there has been a decline in death row sentences among men, 52 women were
under a death sentence at the end of 2004 - 5 more than 2003.
State Totals
From 01 January 1977 through 31 December 2004 32 states, along with
the federal government, executed 944 prisoners. Of the 7,187 people
under sentence of death between 1977 and 2004, 13 percent had been
executed, 4 percent died by causes other than execution, 37 percent
were removed from death row for other reasons, and 46 percent were still
on death row as of 31 December 2004. On average, the prisoners executed
were on death row 11 years before their final sentence was carried out.
Most significant State numbers of as of 31 December 2004:
- California - 637
- Texas - 446 (23 inmates executed)
- Florida - 364
- Pennsylvania - 222
- The federal Bureau of Prisons - 33
Of the lesser numbers, Ohio had 7, Oklahoma 6, Virginia 5, North and
South Carolina 4 each, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Nevada 2 each, and
Arkansas and Maryland 1 each.
The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) and 12 States do not have
capital punishment laws.
The report, "Capital
Punishment, 2004" (NCJ-211349), was written by BJS statisticians
Thomas P. Bonczar and Tracy L. Snell.
©2005 Anai Rhoads. Reproduction must be authorised in writing
by author only. Altering, redistributing, or selling this material is
strictly prohibited.
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