DEATH PENALTY CAMPAIGN
Capital Punishment Facts

There are more than 3,050 inmates on death row today

40 United States jurisdictions have death penalty statutes

Nine states have resumed executions since 1990

Since 1977, over 300 individuals have been executed

Minnesota abolished the death penalty in 1911

The average violent crime rate of those states using capital punishment most frequently is almost three times Minnesotas violent crime rate

A 1987 review of capital cases since 1900 found 350 defendants to have been wrongly sentenced to death-- 24 of these defendants were executed

In Texas, a death penalty case costs taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone at the highest security level for 40 years

When given the option, 70 % of Minnesotans favor sentencing convicted murderers to spend the rest of their life laboring in prison, with the prisoners earnings paid to the victims family, over the death penalty

Sources: 1. Minnesota Citizens Council on Crime and Justice, Capital Punishment Fact Sheet, September 1994

2. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Death Row, U.S.A. Fall 1995

3. AIUSA Death Penalty Newsletter, Winter 1996

4. Death Penalty Information Center, Millions Misspent: What Politicians Dont Say About the High Costs of the Death Penalty, October 1992

5. University of Minnesota, University News Service, "U of M poll shows Minnesotan Strongly Prefer Life Sentence over Death Penalty," January 15, 1993