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Death Sentences in U.S. on the Decline

A new report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center shows death sentences in the U.S. have dropped in each of the past four years.

The Death Penalty Information Center, which is to release the report tomorrow, attributes the decline largely to growing public awareness of death-row exonerations and concerns that innocent people might be sentenced to die.

John Kerry has said he supports a moratorium on the death penalty.

Kerry opposes the execution of juveniles, supports greater access to DNA testing for death row inmates, and argues that studies "reveal serious questions, racial bias, and deep disparities in the way the death penalty is applied." Kerry was a co-sponsor of the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001 and of the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2003. "I know something about killing," Kerry says, referring to his service in Vietnam as a swift boat commander. "I don't like killing. That's just a personal belief I have."

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