A death sentence is sought by one prosecutor, defended by one lawyer and decided by one jury, in one county. In 2013 the Death Penalty Information Center found about two percent of American counties produced most executions and most of death row. The episode follows that map, the Supreme Court's narrowing, and the 2025 executions, then tests whether the State has used the penalty for other purposes, from Sacco and Vanzetti to Ricky Ray Rector.
Who's who
- Johnny HolmesHarris County district attorney from 1979 to 2000
- Dale CoxInterim district attorney of Caddo Parish in 2015
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg+2 more episodesSupreme Court justice
- Nicola SaccoImmigrant anarchist executed in 1927
- Bartolomeo VanzettiImmigrant anarchist executed in 1927
- Julius RosenbergExecuted in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage
- Michael Dukakis1988 Democratic nominee asked a death penalty question
- Bill Clinton+5 more episodesArkansas governor and 1992 presidential candidate
Where it happens
- Harris County, Texas+1 more episodeCounty central to the concentration of death sentences
- South Braintree, MassachusettsSite of the 1920 killings behind Sacco and Vanzetti
- Sing Sing, New YorkWhere the Rosenbergs were executed in 1953
- Conway, ArkansasSite of the killings behind the Rector case
Timeline
- August 23, 1927Sacco and Vanzetti executed
- June 19, 1953Rosenbergs executed at Sing Sing
- October 13, 1988Second presidential debate includes the death penalty question
- January 24, 1992Ricky Ray Rector executed
- October 1, 2013The Two Percent Death Penalty published
- December 2025Year ends with 47 executions and 22 new death sentences
Still debated
Falling death sentences can be read as narrowing to the worst cases or as public consent withdrawing while executions concentrate in a few states. Historians remain divided on Sacco and Vanzetti's guilt, and Ethel Rosenberg's role is questioned. Whether the Court will reconsider Kennedy v. Louisiana is open.
Connected episodes in other series
