Death Sentences Hit 35 Year Low
By: Stephanie Castillo
Updated: December 15, 2011
The number of state executions continued to decline in 2011,
according to an annual report issued Thursday, and for the first time in
35 years, the number of new death sentences meted out fell to below
100.
The Death Penalty
Information Center, which opposes capital punishment and puts out an
annual tally of executions based on state and federal information,
asserts that recent developments reflect "the growing discomfort
that many Americans have with the death penalty."
Illinois abolished the
death penalty - becoming the fourth state in recent years to stop
executions. Sixteen states now forbid capital punishment; 34 allow it.
In Oregon, which allows for it, Gov. John Kitzhaber, Democrat,
recently declared a moratorium for his time in office.
Polls show, however,
majority support for the death penalty, and public backing was evident
during a Republican presidential debate last September. The audience
applauded at just the mention of hundreds of executions
in Texas.
Fordham University law
professor Deborah Denno notes that while the nation is experiencing a
decline in the use of the death penalty, several states regularly rely
on it. Pointing to Texas as an example, she said,
"We do have these attitudes that reflect regional differences."
There were 43
executions in 2011, down slightly from 46 last year and half of the 85
executions in 2000. There were 78 new inmates under death sentence in
2011, compared with 112 in 2010 and 224 in 2000, according
to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The center notes that
public support has dropped over the past decade as reported by Gallup,
to the current 61%, from 68% in 2001.
(Copyright: USA Today) read more
(Copyright: USA Today) read more
