According to a report released Friday by the Death Penalty Information Center, 50% of Americans believe that capital punishment in the United States is unfair. This is the highest number of US residents who disapprove of the death penalty since these polls began in 2000.
The report also notes a steady decline in the number of executions and death sentences handed down in the United States over the past nine years. This year, only five states executed criminals: Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama, which is the lowest number in the last 20 years. In total 24 convicts were executed. Seven states imposed death sentences (21). On average, before a sentence is carried out, an executed person spends 23 years behind bars.
The death penalty is prohibited or not applied in 30 US states.