Capital Punishment Statistics

Some people argue that concepts like 'capital punishment' don't fit in the civilized society that we are a part of - not everybody seems to be impressed though, and statistics on capital punishment hint at this very fact. Those countries where capital punishment is deemed legal, and the executions are carried out within a short period, have a significantly low crime rate as compared to those countries where this form of punishment is considered illegal, or the process of execution takes several years. It is the ignorance about facts like these that has left the world divided over the issue.

The World Perspective

As of 2008, 59 countries in the world have the provision for capital punishment as a part of their legal system. Among these 59 countries, 25 countries actually carry out executions depending on the seriousness of the crime. In terms of the death penalty executions, the continent of Asia leads the pack with a total number of executions that surpass the total number of executions in the world in 2008. In the same year, China alone had 1,178 executions to its credit, while the rest of the world combined only amounted to 672 executions. In fact, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States together constituted for about 93 percent of the total capital punishment executions of the world in 2008. In fact, China had the highest execution rate in the world with 1,178 executions that year alone. In the American continents, it is the United States which leads the pack as far as the capital punishments sentences and executions are concerned.

The United States Perspective

In the United States of America, the first person was sentenced to death in 1608, when found guilty of spying for Spain. The Espy File - a database of the executions carried out in the United States, cites that 15,269 executions were carried out in the nation between the period of 1608 and 2002. Among these executions, Virginia recorded 1,375 executions, Texas recorded 1,152, New York 1,130 and Pennsylvania recorded 1,043 executions as of July 2007. A Supreme Court ruling in 1972 resulted in suspension of capital punishment for a brief period between 1972 and 1976. After the same resumed in 1976, more than a thousand people were executed by the 37 states wherein this form of punishment is deemed legal.

State	Executions
Texas	456
Virginia	106
Oklahoma	92
Florida	69
Missouri	67
Georgia	46
Alabama	44
North Carolina	43
South Carolina	42
Ohio	38

Other than these states, states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Delaware, California, Illinois, Nevada, Mississippi have also recorded 10 or more executions since 1976. On the other hand, states like Kansas and New Hampshire haven't recorded any executions over the last 3 decades even though there is a provision for the same according to the law of the land. Several states in the US have outlawed capital punishment. These states include Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, the US Virgin Islands.

Methods of Execution

While the historical methods of capital punishment, which included strangulation and beheading, were quite harsh, things have changed considerably today. Among the various methods of execution used in the United States, the most prominent one is electrocution - wherein the convict is killed by an electric shock. Other methods include the use of lethal injection, gas chamber, hanging and firing squad. The statistical data pertaining to the number of executions carried out in the United States by each of these methods since 1976 is given below.

Method	Executions
Lethal Injections	1,033
Electrocution	157
Gas Chamber	11
Hanging	3
Firing Squad	2
Total	1,206

In some countries death penalty is executed in complete secrecy, and that makes it very difficult to ascertain the actual number of executions carried out in these countries - it is believed to be quite high though. While human rights activists and people against this practice argue that it is a cruel act and hence has to be outlawed, people in its support argue that it is necessary to ensure justice and to make sure that our surroundings are safe.