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.
"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.
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.
