Death penalty sentences and executions are at their second lowest level in 25 years — symbolic of the “long-term change in capital punishment in the United States.”
A new report from the Death Penalty Information Center shows there were just 23 executions in 2017 — the second lowest total since 1991. In addition, there were only 39 new death sentences imposed in 2017, the second lowest annual total since 1972 and the seventh year in a row that fewer than 100 sentences were imposed nationwide.
“The new death sentences imposed in 2017 highlight the increasing geographic isolation and arbitrary nature of the death penalty,” said DPIC Director Robert Dunham in a statement.
Nearly 75 percent of the executions in 2017 took place in four states: Texas (seven), Arkansas (four), Florida (three), and Alabama (three).
And just three counties — Riverside, Calif., Clark, Nev., and Maricopa, Ariz., — were responsible for more than 30 percent of the sentences given out nationwide.
DPIC notes Harris County, Texas., which once led the nation in number of executions, did not execute one prisoner or impose one death sentence in 2017.
“Perhaps more than any place else, the changes in Harris County, Texas are symbolic of the long-term change in capital punishment in the United States,” said Dunham.
Dunham also connects the drop in executions and sentences to a drop in support for the death penalty nationwide. It’s now at 55 percent, which is a 45-year low.
