Death Penalty Information Center

President Trump Announces the Military Will Not Publicly Livestream Nidal Hasan’s Execution

On October 7, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a media interview that Nidal Hasan’s execution would be ...
Death Penalty Information Center

The Racialized American History Behind Public Executions

Photograph documenting the 1910 public mob execution of Allen Brooks, a Black man, in Dallas, Texas. Courtesy of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. On October 7, 2026, U.S.
Death Penalty Information Center

Governor Bill Lee Denies Clemency for Christa Pike, Refusing to Stop Tennessee’s First Execution of a Woman in More Than 200 Years

On September 28, 2026, Governor Bill Lee denied a clemency request from death-sentenced prisoner Christa Pike, who is scheduled to be executed on September 30. Gov. Lee announced, “[a]fter deliberate ...
Death Penalty Information Center

Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization

Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the ...
Death Penalty Information Center

Florida’s Outlier Status: Thirteen of the Nation’s Twenty-Three Executions in 2026, Even as Executions Elsewhere Decline

Florida executed William Silvia on August 18, 2026, the state’s 13 th execution of the year and the 23 rd nationally. Florida has now carried out 57 percent of this year’s executions in the United ...
Death Penalty Information Center

New Analysis: In Seeking Firing Squad, Electrocution, and Nitrogen Gas Executions, DOJ Misrepresents American History and Law

On April 24, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report proposing an expansion of the federal death penalty, including adding firing squad, electrocution, and lethal gas as execution ...
Death Penalty Information Center

Ohio Court Vacates Charles Maxwell’s Death Sentence Under State’s Serious Mental Illness Law

On April 7, 2026, a Cuyahoga County judge vacated the death sentence of Charles Maxwell and ordered his resentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After an evidentiary hearing, ...
Death Penalty Information Center

Israel Passes Mandatory Death Penalty for Palestinians Convicted of Terrorism, Flouting International Law and Drawing Widespread Condemnation

On March 30, 2026, lawmakers in Israel passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law by a vote of 62 to 48, making Israel one of few democracies to expand capital punishment in recent years. The law ...
Death Penalty Information Center

Texas Prisoner Asks Courts to Intervene in Scheduled Execution as New Confession Raises Serious Doubt Over Original Conviction

James Broadnax, a Texas death-sentenced prisoner, is scheduled to be executed on April 30, 2026. He was convicted in 2009 by a Dallas County jury for the murders of two music producers, Stephen Swan ...
Death Penalty Information Center

What to Know: Costs and the Death Penalty

DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. This ...
Death Penalty Information Center

What to Know: Deterrence and the Death Penalty

DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. Why it ...