Additional News Coverage of the DPIC Report

The latest Death Penalty Information Center report is, "THE 2% DEATH PENALTY: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All."  You can find the full report, executive summary, and news release at the links.

The National Journal reports, "2 Percent of U.S. Counties Account for Most of America's Executions," by Dustin Volz.

Death-penalty opponents may have another talking point to add to their growing list of grievances about capital punishment: Just 2 percent of U.S. counties account for most of the country's death row population and executions, according to a study released today by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Through last year, 62 counties—or about 2 percent of the nation's 3,143—have executed 685 death-row inmates, or 52 percent, of the 1,320 total in the U.S. since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Texas's Harris County, which comprises Houston, led all counties with 115 executions. Dallas County was second with 50.

"The death penalty in practice has proved to be administered unfairly, and this is another example of that," Richard Dieter, DPIC's executive director, told National Journal. "The theory is the worst of the worst get the death penalty, but the reality is those that do are in high urban cities where prosecutors have lots of resources."

Death-penalty debates often get reduced to a breakdown of which states still execute (32) and which don't (18). It's generally known that a handful of states such as Texas, Florida, and Ohio carry out the majority of executions, but the county-by-county breakdown, like one might find in an analysis of presidential elections, provides more insight on the geographically small footprint of capital punishment in the U.S.

US News & World Report posts, "Report: Small Number of U.S. Counties Responsible for Most Death Sentences," by Ethan Rosenberg.

Though 18 states have abolished the death penalty, the study found only nine states carried out executions in 2012 and expected fewer to do so in 2013. Only 20 percent of counties had inmates on death row and 85 percent hadn't had an execution in 45 years.

"The relatively few prosecutors who drive the death penalty create enormous burdens for those outside their district. The rest of the country is paying a high tariff on behalf of the small percentage of counties that are actually using the death penalty," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center and author of the report, said in a statement.

A 2008 Urban Institute report found in Maryland, for example, a case in which prosecutors successfully argue for the death penalty will cost about $3 million on average. Cases where prosecutors were unable to secure a death sentence cost $1.8 million. In May 2012, however, Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a bill abolishing capital punishment.

"Study: Majority of U.S. executions originate in 2% of counties," is by Natasha Lennard at Salon.

The death penalty in the U.S. is handed down according to vagaries of just a few harsh counties, a new study finds.

The Death Penalty Information Center in Washington reported this week that of the 1,348 executions that have taken place in the US since the death penalty restarted in 1976, more than half originated in only 2 percent of counties.

Given these statistics, any juridical claims (the very claims that ended a 1972 Supreme Court death penalty ban in the U.S.) that executions are determined in a fair and equitable fashion are laughable.

Aljazeera America posts, "Majority of US executions stem from 2 percent of counties, study finds," by Lisa De Bode.

Death sentences are at their lowest level in four decades – 85 percent of all counties have not had a single person executed in more than 45 years according to the study – but criminal offenders in the states of California, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida have a disproportionate chance of ending up on death row, with a small number of counties responsible for a majority of death penalty sentences across the country.

Research also revealed that just 62 of the 3,143 counties in the U.S. were responsible for 52% of all death row inmates executed since 1976.

The authors of the study say the results dispel the view that the death penalty is widely practiced across the U.S. and that the use of execution is well supported.

"This Texas County Kills More People Than Any Other County In America," is the Business Insider report by Christina Sterbenz.

Since 1976, Harris County, Texas has executed more criminals than any other U.S. county, according to a study from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The county includes Houston, Texas' largest city.

The results show that more than half of America's executions since 1976 come from only 2% of its counties. And Harris County tops the list. Los Angeles leads the U.S. in putting people on death row — but it hasn't killed as many criminals as Harris County.

Within the top 1%, 15 counties comprise 30% of nationwide executions. Harris County killed more inmates than any other county in that group. It has executed 115 people since 1976. The next-highest, Dallas County, executed just 50 people in that period.

Harris County has been sharply criticized for the way it handles death penalty cases.

"Report: Philly a leader in death-penalty cases," is at Philly.com.

Philadelphia has the third largest population of death row inmates nationwide, yet ranked lowest in Pennsylvania in how much attorneys representing those inmates got paid, according to a study released yesterday by the Death Penalty Information Center.

That means capital convictions in Pennsylvania frequently get reversed on appeal and later reduced to life sentences, due to inadequate representation, according to the Washington, D.C.-based center.

"St. Louis City Among 15 Counties Leading Nation in US Executions, Study Says," from KMOX-AM.

Since 1976, St. Louis County has been responsible for 13 executions, that’s the 8th most in the nation. St. Louis City ties for 11th most, with 11 executions.

Dieter says Missouri ranks 5th overall for most executions since 1976, with 68. Currently there are now 48 inmates on Missouri’s death row.

Earlier coverage of the DPIC report is from yesterday.

Related posts are in the geographic disparity and report category indexes.