Facts
Of those 51 on US death row:
- Black – 12
- White – 30
- Latina – 6
- Asian – 2
- Native American – 1
April 1, 2021 – the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Women on California’s Death Row – “California outpaces all other states in the number of women on death row.” (Sentencing Project)
- Black – 3
- White – 12
- Mexican – 4
- Latino – 1
- Asian/Pacific Islander – 2
Information and petition on the case of Melissa Lucio, the first Latina sentenced to death in Texas. She has been on Texas death row for over a decade for the alleged 2008 murder of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah. In July, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Texas court ruling and found Lucio’s right to a “complete defense” had been violated in her original trial. In February, 2021, a sharply divided court of appeals reversed the decision and her hopes for exoneration are now in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Resources
Death Penalty Information Center
The Sentencing Project
In the Extreme: Women Serving Life Without Parole and Death Sentences in the United States
The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
Judged For More Than Her Crime: A Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty
