The annual report by the Death Penalty Information Center finds that by almost every indicator, the use of the death penalty in the US is at its lowest level in decades.
Death sentences dropped by a third from last year and are at the lowest level since the Supreme Court halted the death penalty temporarily in the 1970s. 14 states and the federal government issued 49 death sentences.
Six states conducted executions, the lowest number in 27 years. The number of executions declined by 20% from 2014 and for the first time in almost 25 years, there were less than 30 executions across the country.
Combined with the repeal in Nebraska and moratorium in Pennsylvania, it’s clear that the momentum for repeal is building. But we still have our work cut out for us in Nevada and across the country, where almost 3,000 people sit on death rows and states continue to invest in this costly and questionable practice.
