{"id":18934,"date":"2016-12-28T14:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T19:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/u-s-ends-year-with-fewest-executions-since-1991\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:44:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:44:11","slug":"u-s-ends-year-with-fewest-executions-since-1991","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/12\/28\/u-s-ends-year-with-fewest-executions-since-1991\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. ends year with fewest executions since 1991"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

With public support for the death penalty at its\u00a0lowest point in more than four decades<\/a>, the U.S. will end the year with its fewest executions in a quarter century.<\/p>\n\n

Nationwide, 20 inmates were executed in 2016, according to a report<\/a> from the\u00a0Death Penalty Information Center. That\u2019s the fewest since 1991, when 14 inmates were executed. In every other year since 1992, the U.S. executed at least 28 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Just five states \u2013 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas \u2013 accounted for all U.S. executions in 2016. That represents the fewest states to carry out executions in any year since 1983. In 1999, by comparison, 20 states conducted executions.<\/p>\n\n

One reason for the national decline in executions was a decrease in Texas, which executed seven inmates this year, a\u00a020-year low<\/a>. Texas has long been the nation\u2019s leader in executions, carrying out nearly\u00a0five times as many<\/a>\u00a0as any other state since the U.S. Supreme Court\u00a0reinstated capital punishment<\/a>\u00a0in 1976. During that span, Texas carried out 538 executions, compared with 112 in Oklahoma and 111 in Virginia. This year marked just the third time since 1985 that a state other than Texas led the nation in executions. (Georgia had nine.)<\/p>\n\n

Legal and practical challenges prevented some states from carrying out executions in 2016. Ohio, for example, has not executed anyone since 2014 amid difficulties acquiring the drugs needed to conduct lethal injections. The state\u00a0announced\u00a0in October that it will resume executions<\/a>\u00a0next year, using a new protocol.<\/p>\n\n

The number of death sentences imposed by the courts also declined substantially in 2016, reaching its lowest point since at least 1972, according to the Death Penalty Information Center\u2019s report. The year\u2019s 30 death sentences<\/a> (including one that was expected but had not yet been imposed as of Dec. 21) are down from 49 in 2015 and 315 in 1996, the modern peak year for death sentences.<\/p>\n\n

Public opinion nationally has shifted against the death penalty, though support for it still outweighs opposition. A\u00a0Pew Research Center survey<\/a>\u00a0conducted Aug. 23 to Sept. 2 found that 49% of Americans support the death penalty for those convicted of murder \u2014 a four-decade low \u2014 compared with 42% who oppose it. But voters remain divided along partisan lines. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Republicans favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder, compared with 34% of Democrats.<\/p>\n\n

At the state level, voters this year showed renewed support for the death penalty.<\/p>\n\n

In California, which has the nation\u2019s largest death row, voters rejected a measure<\/a> that would have eliminated the death penalty and replaced it with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment without parole. Separately, they approved a measure<\/a> that retains capital punishment but streamlines legal procedures related to death penalty appeals.<\/p>\n\n

In Nebraska, voters reversed<\/a> a May 2015 decision by the state Legislature to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a maximum penalty of life without parole for the crime of murder.<\/p>\n\n

In a third state, Oklahoma, voters approved<\/a> a measure intended to solidify the state\u2019s death penalty against legal or legislative challenges by adding provisions to the state constitution, including a declaration that capital punishment is not cruel and unusual punishment.<\/p>\n\n

As of now, the death penalty remains on the books in 31 states.<\/p>\n\n

President-elect Donald Trump favors capital punishment and has said<\/a> he will seek it for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. The federal government has not executed anyone since 2003, carrying out just three executions in the modern era of capital punishment.<\/p>\n\n

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Oct. 21, 2016.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just five states \u2013 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas \u2013 accounted for all 20 executions in the U.S. in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":395,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,95,38,25,24,83],"bylines":[879],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[521,525,529,526,527,528,522,520,523,517,518,519],"class_list":["post-18934","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-criminal-justice","category-death-penalty","category-political-issues","category-politics-policy","category-religion","category-state_local_government","bylines-john-gramlich","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-data-labs","research-teams-global","research-teams-global-migration-and-demography","research-teams-internet","research-teams-journalism","research-teams-methods","research-teams-pew-research-center","research-teams-politics","research-teams-race-and-ethnicity","research-teams-religion","research-teams-science","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short 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