Number of Executions in US Hits 20-Year Low: Anti-Death Penalty Group

Over the last 20 years, the United States has had the lowest number of executions in 2014. So far, there have been 72 new death sentences in 2014, seven less than in 2013, and 77 percent less than in 1996, when there were 315 cases.

MOSCOW, December 18 (Sputnik) — The number of executions carried out in the United States in 2014 was the lowest in 20 years, and the number of death sentences handed down has dropped by 77 percent since 1996, the anti-death penalty group revealed in its report Thursday.

"With less than two weeks remaining in 2014, and few cases pending, there have been 72 new death sentences, seven less than in 2013, and 77 percent less than in 1996, when there were 315," the report by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) said.

"Executions decreased 10 percent compared to 2013 — from 39 last year to 35 this year — continuing an overall decline since 1999, when there were 98 executions," the report noted.

Only seven US states carried out executions in 2014, the report stated, with Texas, Missouri, and Florida accounting for 80 percent of them.

2014 was also remarkable for the highest number of inmates, who had their death sentences cancelled — seven people were released, according to DPIC. It took an average of 30 years to prove their innocence, the report said.

In the United States 32 out of 50 states practice executions as a legal form of punishment. There are currently 3,035 people on a death row in total, according to the DPIC.