Entries tagged with “Year End Report”
Dec 21, 2016
The Death Penalty in 2016: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) Death sentences, executions, and public support for capital punishment all continued historic declines in 2016. American juries imposed the fewest death sentences in the modern era of U.S. capital punishment, since the Supreme Court declared existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972. The expected 30 new death sentences in 2016 represent a 39 percent decline from last year’s already 40-year low of 49. The 20 executions this year marked the lowest number in a…
Dec 18, 2012
The Death Penalty in 2012: Year End Report
DEATH SENTENCES IN 2012 REMAIN NEAR HISTORIC…
Dec 15, 2011
The Death Penalty in 2011: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) New death sentences dropped to 78 in 2011, representing a dramatic decline from last year’s number of 112 and marking the first time since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 that the country has produced fewer than 100 death sentences in a single year, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), based on data as of mid-December. Death sentences have declined about 75 percent since 1996, when 315 individuals were sentenced to…
Dec 21, 2010
The Death Penalty in 2010: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) The country experienced a 12 percent decrease in executions in 2010 compared to 2009 and a more than 50 percent drop compared to 1999, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Texas had 29 percent fewer executions in 2010 than the previous…
Dec 17, 2009
The Death Penalty in 2009: Year End Report
(Washington, D.C.) The country is expected to finish 2009 with the fewest death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center. Eleven states considered abolishing the death penalty this year, a significant increase in legislative activity from previous years, as the high costs and lack of measurable benefits associated with this punishment troubled lawmakers. Read “The Death Penalty in…
Dec 10, 2008
The Death Penalty in 2008: Year End Report
Executions resumed in 2008 after a de facto moratorium was effectively lifted by the Supreme Court following its decision upholding lethal injection. But only the South returned to regular executions, accounting for 95% of executions carried out in the country in 2008. Almost half of the executions were in Texas. In some states, such as California, Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina, the lethal injection issue remains unsettled, and no executions…
Dec 17, 2007
The Death Penalty in 2007: Year End Report
Two dramatic events this year symbolized the broad changes that have been occurring in the death penalty around the country. Executions halted after September 25 when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the mixture of chemicals used in lethal injections in Kentucky (Baze v. Rees). This de facto moratorium on lethal injections contributed to the fewest number of executions in 13…
Dec 14, 2006
The Death Penalty in 2006: Year End Report
The use of the death penalty in the U.S. continued to decline in 2006, consistent with a pattern over the past six years. Executions dropped to their lowest level in 10 years as many states grappled with problems related to wrongful convictions and the lethal injection process. The number of death sentences and the size of death row are also decreasing. And for the first time, the Gallup Poll reported that more people supported a sentence of life without parole over the death…
Dec 15, 2005
The Death Penalty in 2005: Year End Report
The year 2005 may be remembered as the year that life without parole became an acceptable alternative to the death penalty in the U.S. Texas became the 37th out of 38 death penalty states to adopt this option for its juries. New York’s legislature did not restore the death penalty after it was found unconstitutional, leaving life without parole as the punishment for capital murder. Across the country, the number of death sentences dropped to record lows and some of the most notorious…
Dec 15, 2004
The Death Penalty in 2004: Year End Report
By every measure, the death penalty in the U.S. has been in decline since 1999 and the evidence from 2004 continues that trend. Whether examining death sentences, executions, the size of death row or public support, capital punishment numbers have dropped in a way not seen in over 30…
Dec 18, 2003
The Death Penalty in 2003: Year End Report
The death penalty continued its recent attrition in 2003, with executions, death sentences, and the death row population all lower than a few years ago. Public support for the death penalty dropped to its lowest level in 25 years. At the same time, exonerations from death row helped spur legislative reforms in the capital punishment…
Dec 17, 2002
The Death Penalty in 2002: Year End Report
In 2002, the death penalty continued to come under increasing scrutiny and its use became more geographically isolated within the United States. Executions occurred almost exclusively in the South, and one state, Texas, accounted for three times as many as the total in the West, Midwest, and Northeast states…
Dec 12, 2001
The Death Penalty in 2001: Year End Report
Throughout 2001, growing concerns about capital punishment were reflected in a series of legislative changes to restrict the death penalty, and executions declined sharply for the second straight year. For the first time since the death penalty was reinstated, the number of people on death row also appears to be…
Dec 17, 1996
The Death Penalty in 1996: Year End Report
The overall pace of executions in the United States remained high in 1996 and the prospects for the future are for even greater numbers of people put to death each year. As of December 17, there were 45 executions, mostly by lethal injection. This represents a slight drop from last year when 56 executions represented the highest number since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. The 20% decrease in executions this year was probably due to the passage of numerous federal and state laws…
Dec 15, 1995
The Death Penalty in 1995: Year End Report
Executions in the United States are reaching record numbers. Even without the most recent wave of attempts to curtail death row appeals, the number of people put to death has been steadily rising. Contrary to the popular misconception that death row inmates are granted “endless appeals,” there have been 313 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. This year alone there have been 56 executions, more than any other year in the modern…