Number of US Death Sentences Expected to Drop to Historic Low of 30 in 2016

The number of executions in the United States fell by almost 29 percent in 2016, reaching a 25-year low, according to a report of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The death penalty rate in 2016 set a record decline, with 30 death sentences expected this year compared to 49 in 2015, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

"The 30 death sentences expected to be imposed in 2016 represent a 39% decline from last year’s 42-year low, and are down more than 90% from the 315 death sentences imposed during the peak death-sentencing year of 1996," the report read.

According to the DPIC, the number of executions in the United States fell by almost 29 percent in 2016, reaching a 25-year low.

"Executions continued their historic decline in 2016, with 20 executions carried out by just five states. It was the fewest number of executions in the U.S. since 1991 and the fewest number of states carrying them out since 1983," the report revealed.

The DPIC pointed out that for the first time in more than 40 years, no state imposed ten or more death sentences.

"Just two states-Texas and Georgia-accounted for 80% of all the executions in the U.S. in 2016. With Missouri, the three states combined to carry out 41 executions in 2015 and 2016, accounting for 85% of all executions in those years," the report read.

However, the DPIC stressed that despite the public’s negative attitude toward capital punishment, US citizens in three states, namely Nebraska, California and Oklahoma, voted at the referendums to retain death penalty.