Historic Drop in Executions as U.S. Death Sentences Reach 35-year Low

Fewer new death sentences are being handed out in the U.S. than ever before, according to a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center.

So far in 2011, 78 people convicted of murder have been sentenced to death – the first time in 35 years that the figure has dropped below 100.

Authors of the report cite the heightened awareness of the risks of executing the innocent as one of the main causes for the decline.

(READ more of the story in the Daily Mail)