NCJ Number
151786
Date Published
1994
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This report presents statistics on executions, inmates under sentence of death, and jurisdictions without a death penalty for 1993, along with 1993 court decisions pertinent to capital punishment.
Abstract
At the end of 1993, 34 States and the Federal prison system held 2,716 inmates under sentence of death, 5.3 percent more than at the end of 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. The average time between sentencing and year-end 1993 for the 2,716 inmates was 6 years and 1 month. During 1993, 282 inmates 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, two in three had a prior felony conviction; nearly 1 in 10 had a prior homicide conviction. Approximately 2 in 5 inmates sentenced to death had a criminal justice status when they committed their capital offense; approximately half of these were on parole, and half included persons with charges pending, on probation, in prison, or escaped from prison, and others. Almost one in seven persons sentenced to death between 1988 and 1993 had received two or more death sentences. Of those under a death sentence, 57.7 percent were white, 40.8 percent were black, 0.8 percent were Native American, 0.6 percent were Asian American, and three were classified as "other race." Nine court cases pertinent to capital punishment are summarized.