The years 1935 and 1936 were named peak years, with nearly 200 legal killings each year. Executions had declined substantially every year thereafter. .
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Between 1967 and 1977, a de facto moratorium existed, with no executions carried out in any United States jurisdiction. Additionally, following the lifting of the moratorium, executions have increased. In 1993, 38 offenders were put to death, while 56 were executed nationwide in 1995. 1999 had also put a modern record for executions, with 98 executions, 35 reported in Texas alone. In 1995, the state of New York had reinstated the death penalty after a 30 year hiatus. Today, there are 38 of the 50 states and the federal government that have capital punishment laws. All but New York will permit execution for first degree murder, while treason, kidnapping, the murder of a police or correctional officer, and murder while under a life sentence are punishable by death in selected jurisdictions. New York allows for the imposition of a death sentence in the cases involving the murder of law enforcement officers, judges, and witnesses and their families and applies the punishments to serial killers, terrorists, murderers-for-hire, and those who kill while committing another felony like robbery or rape. .
The number of crimes that were punishable by death under federal jurisdiction increased dramatically with the passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - and now includes a total of about sixty (60) offenses. State legislators are also moving to expand the types of crime for which a sentence of death may be imposed. A total of 3,565 persons were under sentence of death throughout the United States on April 1, 1999. This latest statistic shows that 98% of those on death row are male; 49% are classified as white, 8% are Hispanic, 42% are black and 1% is of other races (mostly Native American and Pacific Islander.
