Death sentences drop to 40-year low

Thirty-one death sentences are expected this year compared to 49 in 2015. The 20 executions in 2016 represented a decline from 28 last year.

The number of death sentences imposed was down more than 90 percent from 1996, when the figure peaked at 315.

Only five states carried out executions in 2016. Georgia had the most, with nine, followed by Texas with seven, Alabama with two, and Missouri and Florida with one each.