Richard Dieter Death Penalty Information Center Report

Scott Drake talks with the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center Richard Dieter about a new study that shows a decline in executions.

Executions resumed in 2008 after a de facto moratorium was effectively lifted by the Supreme Courtfollowing 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 occurred. The 37 executions thisyear marked a 14-year low and continued a downward trend after executions peaked at 98 in 1999. Last year there were 42 executions. New death sentences also remained at their 30-year low. The Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released their count of death sentences for 2007. The 115 sentences in 2007 was the lowest number since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In 2008, DPIC's research estimates 111 new death sentences, another decrease in a downward trend that began at the start of this decade. Overall, the annual number of death sentences has dropped by about 60% since the 1990s, when it was close to 300.

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