The death penalty hit a 20-year low, according to a new study. Data gathered by the Death Penalty Information Center, showed that due to botched executions, only 35 inmates were put to death in 2014. The report also revealed that mainly three states use the death penalty.
Death penalty dipped to a 20-year low, according to a study put together by the Death Penalty Information Center. The Death Penalty Information Center also known as DPIC, is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1990.
It does not take any position on the death penalty, but many in the media say, it is a liberal group that is anti-death penalty. The Death Penalty Information Center claims that it:
focuses on disseminating studies and reports related to the death penalty by itself and others to the news media and general public.
According to the researchers from the Death Penalty Information Center, there were 72 people sentenced to death in 2014, which is a 40-year low.
This year only 35 executions took place, that is a 20-year low. This is how the United States compare to other countries.
In 2012, China executed more than 4000 people, 314 in Iran, Iraq used the death penalty 219 times, and in Saudi Arabia, the capital punishment was used in 79 cases. 43 of the 50 states in America don’t use this punishment.
According to the study, death penalty hit a 20-year low because high-profile botched executions in Ohio, Arizona, and Oklahoma, have lead to an “outcry and delays” in other scheduled executions.
One of the failed executions that grabbed headlines took place in Oklahoma in April.
Clayton Darrell Lockett, who was convicted of murder, rape, and kidnapping, received a lethal injection of untested drugs that had not previously been used for executions in the United States.
More than 13 minutes after being administered the drug, Lockett woke up, talked, groaned, and convulsed. The man died 43 minutes after being sedated of a heart attack.
The study by DPIC also showed that a majority of executions took place in Texas, Missouri, and Florida. Those, who are against the death penalty, say that this study show that it is becoming irrelevant as a criminal justice tool.
While those, who are for claimed that it is rare to have a case like Lockett’s, and juries will not stop handling death sentences.
The death penalty hits a 20-year low leaving some wondering, if a big shift is on the way.
