Facts

- It costs way more to execute someone than to just keep them in prison for life
-Number of executions since 1976, has been 1,352
- There are 32 states that allow the death penalty
- Race of defendants executed: 56% white, 34% black, 8% Hispanic, and 2% other
- Race of victims in death penalty cases: 76% white, 15% black, 7% Hispanic, and 2% other
- Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence
- The primary method used for the execution is a lethal injection
- The order of the methods used greatest to least: lethal injection: 1,117, electrocution: 158, gas chamber: 11, hanging: 3, firing squad: 3