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1987 Cap. Punishment 1 (1987)

handle is hein.death/cpshm1987 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Departmnent of Justice L Bureau of Justice Statistics Capital Punishment 1987 Eight States executed 25 prisoners during 1987, bringing the total number of executions to 93 since 1976, the year that the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. Those executed during 1987 had spent an average of 7 years and 2 months awaiting execution. During 1987, 299 prisoners were received under sentence of death from the courts. Seventy-nine persons had their death sentences vacated or com- muted during the year, and 11 died while under a death sentence. At year- end, 34 States reported a total of 1,984 prisoners under sentence of death; all but 1 had been convicted of murder (an inmate admitted during 1986 for the capital rape of a child in Mississippi). The median time since the death sen- tence was imposed for the 1,984 prisoners was 3 years and 7 months. About 2 in 3 offenders under sentence of death for whom such infor- mation was available had a prior felony conviction; about 1 in 9 had a Dtr homicide conviction. About 2 in 5 condemned prisoners were in some criminal justice status at the time of the capital offense. Half of these were on parole; the rest were in prison, on escape from prison, or on probation, or they had charges pending against them. The majority of those under sentence of death (1,138) were white (57.4%); 821 were black (41.4%); 16 were American Indian (.8%); and 9, Asian (.5%). Twenty-one of those under a death sentence were female (1.1%). The median age of all inmates under a death sentence was nearly 33 years. About 62% of those under sentence of death were held by States in the South. Western States held an ad- ditional 18%; Midwestern States, 15%; and the Northeastern States of Con- necticut, New Jersey, and Pennsyl- vania, more than 5%. Florida had the largest number of condemned inmates (277), followed by Texas (256), California (200), Georgia (116), and Illinois (108). During 1987, 32 State prison systems received prisoners under sentence of death from the courts. Connecticut received its first inmate under sentence of death; the last Connecticut inmate under a death sentence died in prison in August 1973. Florida (44 admissions), Texas (36 admissions), and California (27 admissions) accounted for more than a third of the inmates entering prison under a death sentence during the year. The 25 executions in 1987 were car- ried out by 8 States: 8 in Louisiana, 6 in Texas, 5 in Georgia, 2 in Mississippi, and 1 each in Alabama, Florida, Utah, I~ - / July 1988 The capital punishment statistical series has now completed 57 years of continuous Federal sponsorship. The series is designed to provide detailed national information on prisoners under death sentences. This year's report contains special appendices on the current status of all those sentenced to death be- tween 1973 and 1987 and on Federal death penalty statutes contained in the United States Code. The Bureau of Justice Statistics grate- fully acknowledges the cooperation and participation of officials throughout the States whose gen- erous assistance makes this re- porting program possible. Steven R. Schlesinger Director

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