Academic report

The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases At Enormous Costs to All

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2013



The 2% Death PenaltyEXECUTIVE SUMMARYContrary to the assumption that the death penalty is widely practiced across thecountry, it isactuallythe domain of a small percentage of U.S. counties in a handful ofstates. The burdens created by this narrow but aggressive use, however, areshiftedtothe majority of counties that almost never use it.The disparate and highly clustered use of the death penalty raises seriousquestions of unequal and arbitraryapplication of the law. It also forcesthejurisdictionsthat have resisted the death penalty for decadesto pay fora costlylegalprocess thatisoftenmarred withinjustice.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Statistics,



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