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Death Penalty Information Center Releases 2008 Year End Report on the Death Penalty
The year 2008 saw the lowest number of executions in 14 years, 37, according to the Death Penalty Information Center's 2008 Year End Report. Although the murder rate remained approximately constant across the nation, the number of death sentences continued its eight year decline, falling to 111 on the day the report was issued, the lowest number in three decades.  The sub-heading of the report reads: "Marginalization of the Death Penalty Deepens With 95% of Executions in the South." All but two of this years executions occurred in southern states. The report emphasizes the economic concerns that are being voiced in death penalty jurisdictions from California to Maryland. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that unless the legislature comes up with additional funding that death penalty prosecutions would have to be abandoned. The Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled in November that "Without a sufficient defense, a sentence of death cannot be constitutionally imposed." The DPIC site is the best available resource for facts on the death penalty.

Off-Site Resources for News and Information on Capital Punishment (01/25/2007)

The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers (04/09/2007)

Death Penalty 101 (04/09/2007)
National Death Penalty Fact Sheet