Use of the death penalty in the United States fell to a historic low in 2016, even as voters in three states passed ballot initiatives in support of capital punishment, according to a year-end report from the Death Penalty Information Center.
Thirty death sentences are expected to be imposed by the end of the year — a 39 percent decrease from 2015 — marking the lowest number of executions in a single year since 1972, the beginning of a four-year moratorium on capital punishment.
The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed its legality in 1976.
The 20 executions carried out in five states in 2016 represent the lowest number in a single year since 1991, when 14 inmates were put to death, according to the report. Executions peaked in 1999, when 98 felons were put to death.
Edited by
msharmony
on Wed 12/21/16 07:45 AM