US executions drop for the second straight year

the Washington Post said that this year marked the first time since the death penalty was restored in 1976 that executions had dropped significantly nationwide for two years in a row. If the trend continues, the United States would execute the fewest inmates since 1996.
Nationally, 48 people have been put to death in 2001, down 27 percent from this time last year. With 14 more executions scheduled, this year´s total could be down a third from the 1999 high of 98.
The declines reflect the decade-long reduction in the crime rate and a public less enthusiastic about the death penalty. As discussion has grown about the fairness and reliability of capital convictions, judges and governors also have become more willing to stop executions and take a second look at questionable cases.
By far the most striking change has come in Texas, which executed a record 40 inmates last year. This year, 12 people have been put to death, and six more executions are scheduled. Virginia has executed one inmate this year - compared with eight last year and 14 in 1999 - and one execution is scheduled. In fact, executions are down in nine of the 11 states that historically have put the most inmates to death. Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona and Georgia have not executed anyone in 2001. In Alabama, all four scheduled executions were stopped by the state or federal courts. Maryland has not carried out an execution since 1998.
Though execution numbers often fluctuate, observers on both sides of the death penalty debate agree that the country may be on the cusp of changing the way the ultimate punishment is meted out. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that public support for the death penalty is now at 63 percent, the lowest in two decades.
Twenty-one people have been released from death row in the past three years after DNA tests or other new evidence cast doubt on their convictions, and Texas cases involving underpaid, sleeping and incompetent lawyers gained widespread attention because of last year´s presidential election. The US Supreme Court is holding four cases while it decides whether it is unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded convicts.
This year, 23 of the 38 states that have capital punishment enacted reform measures.