U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST BJS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1996 202/633-3047 SIXTEEN STATES EXECUTED 56 OFFENDERS LAST YEAR WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixteen states executed a total of 56 men last year, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. It was the largest number of prisoners put to death in one year since the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of revised state capital punishment laws in 1976. It was also the greatest number of executions in 38 years; in 1957 there were 65 executions. The prisoners executed last year had been on death row for an average of 11 years and 2 months, which was about a year longer than the 31 executed during 1994. All had been convicted of murder. In comparison, the 18 prisoners executed in 1985 had been on death row an average of 5 years and 11 months. Texas executed the most prisoners in 1995 (19), followed by Missouri (6), Illinois and Virginia (5 each), Florida and Oklahoma (3 each), Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania (2 each) and Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, and South Carolina (1 each). Thirty-three of the 56 were white (including two white Hispanics), 22 were black and 1 was Asian. Forty-nine of the executions were by lethal injection. Seven were by electrocution. As of December 31, 1995, 34 states held 2,998 men and 48 women on death row. The youngest, in Nevada, was 18 years of age. The oldest, in Arizona, was 80. Eight men were under a sentence of death under federal jurisdiction. Among those whose criminal histories were known, two-thirds had a prior felony conviction, and 8 percent had a prior homicide conviction. They included 1,513 whites, 1,262 blacks, 22 Native Americans, 19 Asians, 2 classified as other race and 236 Hispanics (8.4 percent of the total). Half had never been married, a quarter had been married at the time of sentencing and another quarter were divorced, separated or had a deceased spouse. At the end of last year, 32 states authorized lethal injection, 11 electrocution, 7 lethal gas, 4 hanging and 3 a firing squad. Of the 38 states that authorize capital punishment, all but Arkansas require an automatic review of the sentence irrespective of the defendant's wishes. During last year, 19 states revised their death penalty laws. Most of the changes involved the conditions under which the death penalty could be imposed, procedural amendments increasing the rights of victims and their families and changes in execution methods. Alaska, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin do not authorize capital punishment. The following lists by race and ethnicity the number of offenders executed last year, the number entering death row, the number executed from 1977 through 1995, the number entering death row during the same years and the number removed from death row during those years: Native Amer- His- Total White Black Asian ican panic Prisoners executed, 1995 56 31 22 1 0 2 Prisoners entering under sentence of death, 1995 310 144 136 4 0 26 Prisoners under sentence of death, 1995* 3,054 1,513 1,262 19 22 236 Prisoners executed, 1977-95 313 171 120 1 2 19 Prisoners entering under death sentence, 1977-95* 4,857 2,468 1,975 41 29 342 Prisoners removed, 1977-95 1,870 969 773 18 9 101 *Total includes 2 people of unspecified race. The bulletin "Capital Punishment 1995" (NCJ- 162043), written by BJS statistician Tracy L. Snell, can be obtained on the Internet at: http://www.ncjrs.org/cp95 It will also be available beginning at 9 A.M. EST, Thursday, December 5, on BJS's Internet home page by clicking on "What's new at BJS." The BJS webpage address is: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ Additional BJS materials may be obtained from the BJS fax-on-demand system (301/251-5550) or by calling the BJS Clearinghouse at 1-800/732- 3277. # # # BJS96256 After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354 (end of file)