U.S.: Death penalty: Statistics show significant decline in support, enactment
- 78 number of death sentences handed out in 2011, which is way down from last year
- 43 number of executions that happened nationwide this year; that’s down by three
- 13 number of executions in Texas, the state with the most; they were also down from 2010 source
- » A decline in the overall numbers: According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the death sentence number is the smallest since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. And public support is starting to fade: According to stats from Gallup, support for the death penalty is at its lowest level in nearly 40 years. Opposition is at its highest level since 1972. Keep this in mind when Rick Perry leads a crowd to cheers during a discussion about the death penalty. Or when cases like Troy Davis‘ widely-contested execution build support against the death penalty.