Capital Punishment 1993: Summary U.S. Department of Justice. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Summary Capital Punishment 1993 December 1994, NCJ-151786 By James Stephan, BJS Statistician and Peter Brien, BJS Statistical Assistant For a copy of the entire published 15-page report, Capital Punishment, 1993, please call the BJS Clearinghouse at 800-732-3277 or fax your name, address, the title, and the order number (NCJ-150042) to 410-792-4358. Ten States executed 38 prisoners during 1993. The number of persons executed was seven more than in 1992 and was the largest annual number since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. The prisoners executed during 1993 had been under sentence of death an average of 9 years and 5 months, about 1 month less than the average for inmates executed the previous year. For the 2,716 prisoners under sentence of death at yearend, 55% were held by States in the South. Western States had an additional 22%; Midwestern States, 16%; and the Northeastern States of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 7%. California held the largest number of death row inmates (363), followed by Texas (357), Florida (324), and Pennsylvania (169). Six prisoners were in Federal custody under a death sentence on December 31, 1993. Between January 1 and December 31, 1993, 30 State prison systems and the Federal prison system received 282 prisoners under sentence of death. California (33 admissions), Florida (32), North Carolina (32), and Texas (27) accounted for 44% of the inmates entering prison under a death sentence in 1993. Highlights Status of the death penalty, December 31, 1993 Executions during 1993 Texas 17 Virginia 5 Missouri 4 Florida 3 Arizona 2 Delaware 2 Georgia 2 California 1 Louisiana 1 Washington 1 Total 38 Number of prisoners under sentence of death California 363 Texas 357 Florida 324 Pennsylvania 169 Illinois 152 Ohio 129 Oklahoma 122 Alabama 120 Arizona 112 North Carolina 99 Tennessee 98 Georgia 96 23 other jurisdictions 575 Total 2,716 Jurisdictions without a death penalty Alaska District of Columbia Hawaii Iowa Kansas Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota New York North Dakota Rhode Island Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin * At yearend 1993, 34 States and the Federal prison system held 2,716 prisoners under sentence of death, 5.3% more than at yearend 1992. All had committed murder. * During 1993, 38 men were executed: 18 were non-Hispanic and white 13 were non-Hispanic and black 1 was Native American 4 were white and Hispanic 2 had an unknown Hispanic origin (1 white and 1 black). * The average time between sentencing and yearend 1993 for the 2,716 inmates was 6 years and 1 month. * During 1993, 282 prisoners under a sentence of death were received by State prison systems from the courts. * Among inmates under sentence of death and with available criminal histories, 2 in 3 had a prior felony conviction; nearly 1 in 10 had a prior homicide conviction. * About 2 in 5 inmates sentenced to death had a criminal justice status when they committed their capital offense: About half of these were on parole and half included persons with charges pending, on probation, in prison or escaped from prison, and others. * Almost 1 in 7 persons sentenced to death between 1988 and 1993 had received two or more death sentences. * Of persons under sentence of death-- 1,566 (57.7%) were white 1,109 (40.8%) were black 22 (0.8%) were Native American 16 (0.6%) were Asian American 3 were classified as "other race." * The 206 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death accounted for 8.1% of inmates with a known ethnicity. * Thirty-five (1.3%) of the persons under a death sentence were women. * Half of the inmates sentenced to death had been sentenced at age 29 or older. Findings from the BJS Bulletin Capital Punishment 1993 * Ten States executed 38 persons in 1993: 17 in Texas 5 in Virginia 4 in Missouri 3 in Florida 2 each in Arizona, Delaware, and Georgia 1 each in California, Louisiana, and Washington. All were men. * Lethal injection was the predominant method of execution (25 States): 12 States authorized electrocution 8 States, lethal gas 3 States, hanging 2 States, a firing squad. Federal executions, effective February 1993, were to be carried out by lethal injection. * Eleven States and the Federal prison system required a minimum age of 18. Sixteen States indicated an age of eligibility between 14 and 17. * Of the 36 States with capital punishment provisions, all but Arkansas provided for review of a death sentence regardless of the defendant's wishes. * Among the 35 jurisdictions with prisoners under sentence of death at yearend 1993-- 22 had more inmates than a year earlier 7 had fewer inmates 6 had the same number. * During 1993 the number of blacks under sentence of death rose by 78 (7.6%); the number of whites rose by 55 (3.6%); and the number of persons of other races (Native Americans and Asians or Pacific Islanders) rose by 3 (7.9%). The number of Hispanics sentenced to death rose from 199 to 206 during 1993. *Thirty-five women in 14 States were under sentence of death. * The median age for persons under sentence of death at yearend was 35 years. The youngest offender under sentence of death was age 18; the oldest was 78. * All 282 prisoners who had been received under sentence of death had been convicted of murder. By sex and race-- 141 were white men 129 were black men 2 were Native American men 1 was an Asian man 3 were Hispanic men classified as "other race" in Pennsylvania 5 were white women 1 was a black woman. * Of 282 new admissions of any race, 15 were Hispanic men and 1 was a Hispanic woman. * Twenty-three States reported a total of 97 persons whose sentence of death was overturned or removed. Appeals courts upheld the convictions but vacated the sentences in 50 cases while overturning the convictions and vacating the sentences in 39 cases. * Eleven persons died while under sentence of death in 1993; 8 from natural causes and 3 from suicide. * From 1977, the year following the Supreme Court's reinstatement of the death penalty, to 1993, a total of 4,259 persons entered prison under sentence of death. * From 1977 through 1993, 225 persons were executed; 1,789 had their death sentence removed as the result of appellate court decisions and higher court reviews, commutations, or death. * Among inmates under a death sentence at yearend and with an available criminal history, 68% had a history of felony convictions, including 9% with at least one previous homicide conviction. * Among those for whom legal status at the time of the capital offense was reported, 42.3% had an active criminal justice status. * The average time between the imposition of a death sentence and yearend 1993 was 73 months. Elapsed time since sentencing Mean Median Total 73 months 67 months Male 73 67 Female 51 37 White 74 68 Black 72 63 Hispanic 69 64 * Based on Federal data collected since 1930, during the 64 years ending in 1993, a total of 4,085 persons were executed under civil authority. * After the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 21 States executed 226 prisoners: 1977 1 1979 2 1981 1 1982 2 1983 5 1984 21 1985 18 1986 18 1987 25 1988 11 1989 16 1990 23 1991 14 1992 31 1993 38 * During this 17-year period, 5 States executed 163 prisoners: Texas 71 Florida 32 Virginia 22 Louisiana 21 Georgia 17 These States acccounted for 72% of all executions. * Between 1977 and 1993, the following were executed: 106 white non-Hispanic men 72 black non-Hispanic men 15 white Hispanic men 1 black Hispanic man 14 white men with Hispanic origin unknown 15 black men with Hispanic origin unknown 2 Native American men 1 white non-Hispanic woman.