Death Row

Death row, often a separate unit within a prison, houses individuals who have been sentenced to death for commission of a capital crime. As of 2011, 3,279 inmates were on death row in the United States. The number of death sentences has dropped dramatically since 1993, when 287 defendants were placed on death row, in comparison to 112 in 2009. Of the 7,773 prisoners awaiting execution between 1977 and 2009, 15 percent were executed, 5 percent died from causes other than execution, and 39 percent received other dispositions, such as ...