Juries in 15 of the last 16 fed­er­al cap­i­tal tri­als have declined to impose the death penal­ty, despite a more aggres­sive pur­suit of this pun­ish­ment by the Justice Department. Since President George Bush took office, 15% of the cap­i­tal tri­als have result­ed in death sen­tences, com­pared to 46% of cas­es in which the death penal­ty was sought from 1988 to 2000. Legal experts believe that over­reach­ing by pros­e­cu­tors and some jurors’ grow­ing unease with the death penal­ty may account for the trend. Former U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad not­ed, ​“It reflects that the tide is turn­ing in this coun­try with regard to atti­tudes about the death penal­ty. There has been so much pub­lic­i­ty about wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed defen­dants on death row that peo­ple sit­ting on juries are reluc­tant to impose the ultimate sanction.” 

(New York Times, June 15, 2003) See Federal Death Penalty and Innocence.

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