Figures released by the Death Penalty Information Center indicate thirty-seven (37) executions took place in the United States during 2008. This is the lowest number in 14 years. A partial explanation for the decrease is the informal moratorium on executions that occurred while the Supreme Court deliberated the constitutionality of the three-drug protocol administered by almost all states that employ lethal injection for executions. The Court rendered a decision in April (Baze and Bowling v. Rees) upholding the method. Also of significance is the number of persons sentenced to death (111) during 2008. This is the lowest number since 1976 when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. Other factors that may have contributed to the decline are:

•  High legal and security costs associated with the death penalty;  
•  Pronounced downturns in states' economies; 
•  A drop in the number of violent crimes; 
• Changing public sentiment regarding use of the death penalty