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Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center |
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Bureau of Justice Statistics
According to figures released
by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, seventeen states executed
74 prisoners in 1997. The number executed was 29 greater than
in 1996 and was the largest annual number since the 76 executed
in 1955. The prisoners executed during 1997 had been under sentence
of death an average of 11 years and 1 month, 8 months more than
that for inmates executed in 1996.
At the end of 1997, 3,335 prisoners
were under sentence of death. California held the largest number
on death row (486), followed by Texas (438), Florida (370), and
Pennsylvania (214). Fifteen prisoners were under a federal sentence
of death.
After ruling in 1972 that the death
penalty was unconstitutional as it was then legislated, in 1976
the Supreme Court upheld revised state capital punishment laws.
Between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 1997, twenty-nine states
had executed 432 people.
Nearly two-thirds of the executions
occurred in five states: Texas (144), Virginia (46), Florida
(39), Missouri (29), and Louisiana (24).
At the end of 1997 the death penalty
was authorized by the statutes of 38 states and by federal statute.
During 1997 there were no successful challenges to the constitutionality
of state death penalty laws, and no state enacted any new legislation
authorizing capital punishment.
During 1997, 74 men were executed.
Of those executed, 41 were non-Hispanic whites; 26 were non-Hispanic
blacks; 4, white Hispanics; 1, black Hispanic; 1, American Indian;
and 1, Asian. Sixty-eight of the executions were carried out
by lethal injection, and 6 by electrocution.
Automatic Review
Of the 38 states with capital
punishment statutes at the end of 1997, 36 provided for review
of all death sentences regardless of the defendant’s wishes.
Arkansas had no specific provisions for automatic review. The
federal death penalty procedures did not provide for automatic
review after a sentence of death had been imposed. In South Carolina
the defendant had the right to waive sentence review if the defendant
was deemed competent by the court. In Mississippi the question
of whether a defendant could waive the right to automatic review
of the sentence had not been addressed, and in Wyoming neither
statute nor case law clearly precluded a waiver of appeal.
While most of the 36 states authorized
an automatic review of both the conviction and sentence, Idaho,
Indiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee required review of the sentence
only. In Idaho review of the conviction had to be filed through
appeal or forfeited. In Indiana and Kentucky a defendant could
waive review of the conviction.
The review is usually conducted
by the state’s highest appellate court regardless of the
defendant’s wishes. If either the conviction or the sentence
is vacated, the case can be remanded to the trial court for additional
proceedings or for retrial. As a result of retrial or resentencing,
the death sentence can be reimposed.
Minimum Age
In 1997 eight jurisdictions
did not specify a minimum age for which the death penalty could
be imposed.
In some states the minimum age
was set forth in the statutory provisions that determine the
age at which a juvenile may be transferred to criminal court
for trial as an adult. Fourteen states and the federal system
required a minimum age of 18. Sixteen states indicated an age
of eligibility between 14 and 17.
This article was adapted from the BJS bulletin “Capital Punishment 1997,” NCJ 172881.