Missouri Is Running Out of Inmates to Execute

Missouri's status as one of the most active death penalty states is about to change for one simple reason: The state is running out of inmates to execute. The on Dec. 3 left just eight men on death row—a figurative term since condemned Missouri inmates are housed with other prisoners.

By contrast, nearly 100 people were living with a death sentence three decades ago. Three of the eight Missouri inmates will almost certainly live out their lives in prison after being declared mentally incompetent for execution, the reports. Court appeals continue for the other five, and no new executions are scheduled.



Missouri isn't alone. Across the nation, the number of people awaiting the ultimate punishment has declined sharply since the turn of the century. "We are in a very, very different place than we were 25 years ago, and that's for very good reasons," said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that doesn't take a position on the death penalty but is critical of problems in its application.

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