The Death Penalty Information Center has released its annual end-of-year report, and the findings are as expected. For the fifth year in a row the country carried out fewer than 30 executions, a stark contrast to the numbers seen at the height of the death penalty’s usage in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. New death sentences are also at historic lows, in keeping with a recent Gallup poll that found the majority of Americans now support life in prison without parole over capital punishment. And with two more states ridding their books of executions this year (New Hampshire legislatively and California through executive moratorium), there are officially less than fifty percent of states still using this antiquated practice.   You can read the full report here.