Executions Down By Half From Ten Years Ago

The Death Penalty Information Center reports that there were a total of 52 executions in  the United States in 2009 compared to 98 in 1999.  They also report that the number of death sentences imposed in 2009, 106, is the lowest since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.  The actual rate of death sentences imposed has been dropping the past 7 years.  There seems to be declining support in the death penalty.  In the past two years three states abolished the death penalty and there is increasing debate about the effectiveness of the death penalty.  Last year, the number of executions carried out dropped to a 14 year low and the number of death sentences imposed had dropped 60 percent from the 1990's.  In 1995 95% of the executions were carried out in the South while the number dropped to 87% in 2009. 

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