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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
Death sentences decline sharply as public attitudes shift
By SAM HANANEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Only
30 people were sentenced to
death in the United States this
year, the lowest number since
the early 1970s and a further
sign of the steady decline in
use of the death penalty.
The number is a sharp drop
from the 49 death sentences
last year and just a fraction
of the peak of 315 in 1996,
according to a report from the
Death Penalty Information
Center, a nonprofit organiza-
tion that opposes capital pun-
ishment and tracks the issue.
“I think we are watching a
major political climate change
concerning capital punishment
and it’s reflected among reduced
death sentences across the coun-
try,” said Robert Dunham, the
group’s executive director.
The growing reluctance of
juries to sentence defendants
to death is one of several fac-
tors contributing to the over-
all drop in executions. Twenty
people were executed this
year, the fewest since 1991,
when 14 people were put to
death. The high-water mark
was in 1999, when there were
98 executions.
Other factors leading to
a drop in executions include
shortages of the drugs needed
to carry out lethal injection and
more robust legal challenges
by defendants in capital cases.
About half of Americans
Nevada Department of Corrections
The viewing room looking toward the newly completed exe-
cution chamber at Ely State Prison in Ely, Nev. Nevada hasn’t
carried out an execution since 2006, and two state lawmakers
have proposed abolishing capital punishment altogether.
still support the death penalty
according to a Pew Research
Center poll earlier this year,
but that is the lowest level in
more than four decades. Pub-
lic support for capital punish-
ment peaked in the mid-1990s,
when 80 percent of Americans
favored it.
Yet the issue still causes
deep divisions. Voters in Cal-
ifornia and Nebraska declined
to abolish the death penalty in
their states when they consid-
ered referendums last month.
And states like Ohio and Okla-
homa that have halted execu-
tions over problems with lethal
injection drugs are trying to
figure out how to resume.
Capital
punishment
remains legal in 31 states.
Oregon voters approved the
death penalty in 1984, and the
state and U.S. Supreme Courts
have upheld its legality repeat-
edly. Oregon’s death row has 34
prisoners. Gov. Kate Brown is
continuing a moratorium on the
death penalty started in 2011.
Only five states conducted
executions this year, the few-
est number of states to do so
since 1983. Georgia led the
way with nine, followed by
Texas with seven, two in Ala-
bama and one each in Missouri
and Florida.
And just five states sen-
tenced more than one person
to death in 2016. California
imposed nine death sentences,
followed by five in Ohio, four
in Texas, three in Alabama and
two in Florida. But California
hasn’t executed any of the 741
inmates on its death row since
2006 due to legal challenges
over its lethal injection method.
“As fewer states use the
death penalty and as it’s used
more sparingly in the states
that do, we can expect long-
term numbers to remain low
and perhaps continue to drop,”
Dunham said.
SHOP HISTORIC
DOWNTOWN
ASTORIA
this Holiday Season
This year many downtown Astoria businesses will be open
Fridays until 7p.m. More time to shop for your holiday gifts!
Bloomin Crazy Floral
Maiden Astoria
971 Commercial Street 503-325-3571
or shop online www.BloominCrazyFloral.com
255 14th Street maidenastoria.com
Monday-Sunday 11 am-5 pm
Friday December 16th & 23rd 11 am-7 pm
Cargo
240 11th Street 503-325-8067
Visit us for many unique gift ideas!
City Lumber Company
2142 Commercial Street 503-325-4511
Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:30pm
Saturday 8 am-5 pm, Sunday 9 am-4 pm
Custom Threads
1282 Commercial Street 503-325-7780
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm
Holly McHone Jewelers
1150 Commercial Street 503-325-8029
Monday-Friday 10 am-6 pm
Saturday 10 am-5 pm, Sunday 11 am-4 pm
Imogen Gallery
240 11th Street 503-468-0620
Monday-Saturday 11 am-5 pm
Sunday 11 am-4 pm, Closed Wednesdays
Jonathon's LTD
332 12th Street 503-325-7600
Open every day 10:30 am-4:30 pm
Pat's Pantry
1153 Commercial Street 503-468-0583
Open daily
Phog Bounder's Antique Mall
892 Marine Drive 503-338-0101
Monday-Saturday 10 am-5:30 pm
Sunday 10 am-3 pm
Purple Cow Toys
1380 Commercial Street 503-325-2996
Monday-Friday 10 am-6 pm
Saturday 10 am-5 pm, Sunday 11 am-3 pm
Rogue Public House
100 39th Street 503-468-0923
Sunday-Thursday 11 am-9 pm
Friday-Saturday 11 am-10 pm
Sea Gypsy Gallery & Gifts
1001 Commercial Street 360-510-2488
Sunday-Thursday 11 am-5 pm
Friday-Saturday 11 am-6 pm
Shopping Local is Good for Your Community!