Public Safety

Report: Death Sentences In U.S. Drop Sharply In Last Decade

By Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez / Senior Field Correspondent

Published December 14, 2011 at 9:01 PM PST

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

The Death Penalty Information Center report shows the number of inmates set to be executed at its lowest point since capital punishment was reinstated.

Fewer Inmates On Death Row

The Death Penalty in 2011: Year End Report

Read more about statistics and trends in capital punishment during the past year.

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The Death Penalty Information Center study shows that 78 people were sentenced to death this year. It’s the lowest number since the U.S. Supreme Court re-instated capital punishment in the 1970’s.

The report also shows that since 2000, executions have declined by 56 percent.

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Richard Dieter is with the Death Penalty Information Center. He says wrongful death convictions and cost are reasons for the decline.

“If the numbers are any indication the public is less supportive and willing to let it go if there is punishment like life without parole," Dieter said. "That’s I think the wave of the future."

Texas executed the most prisoners in 2011. But the state sentenced fewer people to death.

California could vote next year to abolish the death penalty.

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Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez

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Nadine is a Senior Field Correspondent (Phoenix) who focuses on stories throughout the southwest and issues that directly affect Arizona’s Latino community. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist and a Telly Award winner. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and earned a Masters in Education from Northern Arizona University. She comes from a lengthy background in communications. Her broadcasting career includes Arizona’s PBS station KAET-TV. She was a producer and correspondent for the public affairs programs Horizon and Horizonte. While in Chicago, she hosted on-air bilingual pledge drives for WTTW Channel 11 (PBS), making her the only bilingual pledge host at the time. She was a general assignment reporter for Tribune Company’s ChicagoLand Television News, Univision affiliate WCIU-TV Channel 26 and WYCC-TV. She also worked for Comiskey Park (now U.S. Cellular Field), the home of the Chicago White Sox and United Center (Chicago Bulls) Scoreboard Operations. She co-produced a bilingual television parenting program on both Chicago’s Telemundo and WYCC-TV Channel 20. Aside from her broadcasting career, she served in various roles in public relations, community outreach, and marketing. Her extensive public sector experience extends to several departments of the City of Chicago, Mayor’s Advisory Council on Latino Affairs, and the U.S. Congress. Other professional experience includes Vice President of Community Outreach for the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. Currently, she mentors and teaches public radio writing and reporting to inner city students and participates in journalism workshops for high school students throughout the Phoenix area. Her goal is to teach journalism in a higher education institution, while continuing her mentorship initiative. She was born in Puerto Rico to Puerto Rican and Belgian parents, and raised on Chicago’s southside in La Villita (a predominantly Mexican community). This diverse background taught her valuable lessons in various Latino cultures and informs her insight into issues of great interest to Latino families and business community.

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