the other hand, has increased its death penalty cases. For the first 150 of U.S. history, the federal government played a minor role in setting policy toward the death penalty. The majority of the states provided capital punishment and executions until the late 1950s (www.encarta.msn.com).
             Twelve states do not have a death penalty. The other 38 states all provide that forms of aggravated murder can be punishable by death. Several states also authorize capital punishment for the non-lethal offenses of drug trafficking, hijacking, treason, and sexual assault. However, in 1999, all persons under sentence of death in the United States had been convicted of some form of murder. Of those 38 states, only 29 have conducted an execution in the previous two decades. Geographically, executions are highly concentrated in the southern states.
             When executions do happen in the United States, they
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