The map of the United States is basically a patchwork of conflicting philosophies when it comes to the ultimate punishment. Honestly, it’s confusing. You’ve got states that haven’t executed anyone in fifty years but still have the laws on the books, and then you have others that have scrubbed the death penalty from their statutes entirely. If you're looking for which states do not have capital punishment, you aren't just looking at a list; you're looking at a massive shift in how the American justice system operates.
It’s changing fast.
As of early 2026, 23 states plus the District of Columbia have fully abolished the death penalty. That's nearly half the country. But that number doesn't tell the whole story because several other states are under "gubernatorial moratoriums." This basically means the governor has said, "Not on my watch," even though the law says they could do it.
The Abolitionist Wall: Where it’s gone for good
The "Blue Wall" of the Northeast and the West Coast is mostly where you’ll find the states that have officially walked away. Michigan was actually the first. They got rid of it for everything except treason way back in 1846. That’s wild if you think about it. Most of Europe hadn't even thought about abolition yet.
Here is the current roster of the 23 abolitionist states:
Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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Virginia’s inclusion in 2021 was the biggest shock to the system. For a long time, Virginia was second only to Texas in the number of executions it carried out. When they abolished it, it signaled a legitimate sea change in the South.
The Moratorium Middle Ground
Then there’s the "grey area."
California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
In these spots, the death penalty is technically legal. The juries can still hand down death sentences. But the governors—currently Gavin Newsom in California and Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania—have issued formal halts. They won't sign the warrants. California has the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, yet they haven't executed anyone since 2006. It’s a strange, expensive stalemate.
Why the shift? It’s not just about ethics
People usually assume the move away from the death penalty is purely a "bleeding heart" thing. It’s not. A lot of it is cold, hard cash.
Studies from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) have shown that it’s actually way more expensive to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life. Why? The legal fees. The appeals process is grueling. It takes decades. Taxpayers end up footed the bill for millions of dollars in legal defense and specialized housing. In 2026, with state budgets getting squeezed, that's a tough pill to swallow.
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Then there's the innocence factor.
Since 1973, over 190 people have been exonerated from death row. That means they were literally waiting to die for a crime they didn't commit.
Kirk Bloodsworth was the first person to be exonerated by DNA evidence in 1993. He’d been sentenced to death in Maryland. When cases like his hit the news, it makes people—even those who support the death penalty in theory—sorta terrified of the state making a mistake you can't undo.
The regional divide is getting deeper
If you look at the Deep South, the death penalty is still very much alive. Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma do the heavy lifting here. Alabama recently started using nitrogen hypoxia, a brand-new method that sparked a massive international debate about "cruel and unusual" punishment.
But even in "red" states, the momentum is slowing down. Legislatures in places like Ohio and Wyoming have been debating abolition bills recently. Often, it’s conservative Republicans leading the charge, arguing that the death penalty is an example of "big government" overreach. If you don't trust the government to fix a pothole, why would you trust it with the power of life and death?
The Supreme Court's long shadow
We have to talk about Furman v. Georgia (1972). This was the big one. The Supreme Court basically said, "Look, the way you’re doing this is arbitrary and capricious. It’s like being struck by lightning." They effectively stopped all executions in the U.S. for four years.
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But then Gregg v. Georgia (1976) brought it back. It created the "bifurcated trial" system we have now, where the guilt phase and the sentencing phase are separate. Most of the states that do not have capital punishment today made their move in the decades following those rulings, realizing that the "reformed" system was still plagued by racial bias and high costs.
Public Opinion vs. Reality
If you poll people, a slight majority of Americans still say they support the death penalty "for someone convicted of murder." But when you give them a choice between the death penalty and life without parole, the numbers flip. Most people choose life without parole.
It’s about closure.
Victims' families often wait 20 or 30 years for an execution. Every time there’s an appeal, they have to go back to court. They have to relive the trauma. Many family members have actually testified against the death penalty because they want the legal process to end so they can finally breathe.
What about the federal level?
Even if you live in a state like Michigan that doesn't have the death penalty, you could still face it in a federal court.
The federal government has its own death row.
There was a huge flurry of executions at the end of the Trump administration in 2020 and 2021. Then, the Biden administration put a moratorium on federal executions. It’s a legal see-saw that depends entirely on who is sitting in the Oval Office.
Actionable insights for following this issue
If you want to stay informed or get involved in the debate regarding which states do not have capital punishment, there are specific things you should track.
- Monitor state legislative sessions: Most abolition happens in the spring when state legislatures meet. Watch Ohio and Louisiana in the coming year; they are the "toss-up" states where the conversation is most heated.
- Check the DPIC database: The Death Penalty Information Center is the gold standard for real-time data on executions and stays.
- Verify local prosecutor stances: In many states, the death penalty is legal, but local District Attorneys simply refuse to seek it. Your local vote for DA often matters more than the state law itself.
- Support Innocence Projects: Regardless of where you stand on the morality of the death penalty, groups like the Innocence Project work to ensure that the ultimate mistake—executing an innocent person—never happens.
The trend is clear: the U.S. is moving toward a future with fewer executions. Whether that’s because of morality, cost, or the fear of error, the list of states without the death penalty is only going to grow.