The number of executions in the United States has declined to a 13-year low, according to a study by a research group that has been critical of the way the death penalty is applied.
The 42 executions recorded in 2007 are the fewest since 1994, when there were 31, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which compiled the report and released it Tuesday. In 1999, there were 98 executions, the highest number since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
The group attributes the decline to numerous factors, including public sentiment over innocence and fairness, but most notably the decision by the Supreme Court on Sept. 25 to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of lethal injection, causing a de facto moratorium on executions.
It’s also due to the fact that the crime rate has plummeted since the mid-90s, thus giving fewer candidates for capital punishment.
Merely pure speculation – but perhaps the death penalty has been a significant deterent to the types of heinous crimes which warrant it.
#2 I doubt it very much. Canada’s per capita murder rate is much lower than the United States, and we outlawed the death penalty in the 1960’s.
# 3 – Dead men don’t wear plaid.