Why state executions are dropping

For the first time since the death penalty was reinstated a quarter century ago, the number of executions has fallen for two consecutive years.

The news is being taken in stride by death-penalty supporters, who say the downward trend simply reflects the often uneven flow of cases through the criminal-justice system.

But for those who want to abolish society's ultimate punishment, it's an endorsement of the country's willingness to find alternatives to execution - and the slow but steady progress toward its outlawing altogether.

When Texas last week put its final inmate to death for the year, the national count stood at 66 executions in 2001. That's down 22 percent from last year, when there were 85 executions. That was a 13 percent drop from '99.

"It's significant because there have been other drops, but never two years in a row," says Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. "There seems to be great reticence about carrying out the death penalty now because of all we know about the mistakes that have been made."

Public support for the death penalty has softened in the last decade, dipping in polls from from 80 percent to 65 percent today. That number did edge up after Sept. 11, however.

While the nation's attention has been focused on other issues since the terrorist attacks, many opponents still think state and local lawmakers will return to the debate over capital punishment - especially if more death-row inmates are exonerated. Five were freed this year with the help of DNA, for a total of 98 since 1973.

Some states, as a result, have been backing off their virtually unequivocal stance on capital punishment. Five states this year passed legislation banning the execution of the mentally retarded, 17 states enacted laws that provided greater access to DNA testing, and 18 states introduced bills to place a moratorium on executions, though none passed.

In addition, juries are sentencing people to death at a much lower rate than in previous years. And studies show that they want to have the option of imprisoning people for life instead of giving them the death penalty.

"I think it's a combination of a public that has become better educated about the issue of the death penalty and increasingly concerned about the flaws in the system," says Rick Halperin, president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

More high-profile public figures are expressing concern about about mistakes in capital cases as well. In two speeches this year, US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said she has "serious questions" about whether the death penalty is being administered fairly.

But death-penalty supporters say all of this doesn't amount to a substantial change in public opinion about capital punishment. The drop in executions nationwide simply reflects the fall in crime rates, which have come down sharply since the late 1980s, says Joshua Marquis, an Oregon district attorney.

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