Death Penalty Fact Sheet

3 Interesting Facts:

• 31 states use the death penalty; 19 do not in the US
• over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white

• since 1998, the death sentences have decreased drastically (in 98, it was 295 and in 2016, there were 30 death sentences)

For this statistic, see "Death Sentencing" in the middle of this screenshot.

Conclusions:

1. Whites are much more likely to be executed than African Americans or other races.
2. The cost for executing people is a lot more expensive than housing the criminals in jail. 

Question:

If the death sentences have decreased as much as they have since '98, then why are the courts and other authorities pushing to bring the death penalty back at full force?