US executions fall to lowest in 20 years

The number of executions in the U.S. continued to decline in 2014, hitting a 20-year low.

There were 35 executions in 2014, the fewest since 1994, according to a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-capital punishment group. The 72 death sentences handed down in the year also marked the lowest number in the modern history of the death penalty.

{mosads}”The year 2014 set a number of milestones in the declining use of the death penalty,” the group said.

The executions were also concentrated in certain states. Eighty percent of executions in 2014 took place in Texas, Florida and Missouri. Only seven states executed prisoners this year, the fewest in 25 years.

The declining use of the death penalty comes as the nation’s attention has been focused on alleged racial inequalities in the criminal justice system following the killings of two unarmed black men by police officers.

Sixty-six percent of people executed were minorities. According to the report, only 17 percent of the executions were for murders involving black victims — even though roughly half of the murder victims in the U.S. are black.

The total number of inmates on death row continued to fall. Currently 3,035 prisoners are incarcerated on death rows around the country, according to the report. Seven were exonerated this year.

California maintains the highest death row population of any state with 745 prisoners.

The findings also come in a year where several botched executions drew new attention to the death penalty. Some states have also been struggling to deal with a shortage of the drugs used for lethal injection.

A growing number of lawmakers in Washington from both parties are pushing for broader reforms that aim to move the criminal justice system away from harsh punishments for smaller offenses.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip, and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) co-sponsored a bill in the last Congress that would make modest changes to the mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, which have led to black Americans being incarcerated at disproportionate rates.

The bill gained support across the ideological spectrum, from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). But its future remains unclear when the Senate returns in January. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who will chair the Judiciary Committee, is an outspoken opponent of changing mandatory minimums.

Other bills, like a prison reform package from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and a bill to update standards for minors in the justice system, stand a better chance of getting a vote.