The United States is poised to sentence fewer convicted criminals to death than any year in modern history while executions drop to 30-year lows, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
From January to June, judges in four states have sentenced 13 people to execution. If the low rate of sentences continues, 2020 will see the fewest death sentences since 1977. Historically, 100 to 300 people are sentenced to death each year. The number had already been dropped significantly in the past two decades as public opinion became less favorable toward the death penalty.
“Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, relatively few capital trials were underway across the country,” the Death Penalty Information Center, a national nonprofit group that tracks capital punishment, wrote in a recently released report. “Since the pandemic struck, defense teams have been unable to safely and meaningfully investigate and prepare their cases, and the potentially life-threatening risks to witnesses, jurors, defense and prosecution lawyers, and investigators, court personnel, and their families and communities have led to the suspension or postponement of most capital trials.”
Six executions have taken place in 2020, setting the country up to execute fewer people this year than any year since at least 1991, which saw 14 executions. Fifty-four executions had been slated for 2020, but only nine remain pending. Many have been canceled due to public health policies put into place amid the pandemic.
“The few jurisdictions that are attempting to carry out executions are outliers in both their criminal justice and public health policies, prioritizing immediately executing prisoners over public health and safety concerns and fair judicial process,” read the report.
Earlier this year, Colorado abolished the death penalty, making it the 22nd state to do so. Louisiana and Utah each have not performed an execution in a decade.
