The death penalty is a hotly debated topic. It raises ethical issues about a prisoner's right to life.

There also are very complex issues related to the cost of executing someone, the racial and class characteristics of people who are sentenced to death, the extent to which the death penalty serves as a deterrent, errors in the judicial process leading to the execution of people who might be innocent, the execution of minors and people who are mentally impaired, and the amount of time that transpires between sentencing and execution.

Let us put this debate in historical and statistical context. The number of death penalty cases in the United States peaked in 1930s, when about 176 Americans were put to death each year. That number dropped to about 128 in the 1940s and 72 in the 1950s. There were only seven executions in 1965, one in 1966, and two in 1967, when executions were suspended while the courts considered their constitutionality.

In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that existing death penalty laws were unconstitutional. States responded by revising their laws to satisfy the Court. In 1976, the Supreme Court reviewed these changes and reinstated the death penalty.

Since then, the number of people sentenced to death has climbed from a low of 137 in 1977 to a high of 320 in 1996, before declining rather steadily to an estimated 130 in 2004 (seven fewer than in 1977). A decade-by-decade analysis shows that in the 1970s, about 158 people were sentenced to death each year. That figure rose to an annual average of 260 during the 1980s and 290 for the 1990s.

Since 2000, the yearly average has been 168 (only slightly more than the average for the 1970s). The yearly average has declined from 232 in 2000, to 164 in 2001, 168 in 2002, 144 in 2003, and about 130 in 2004.

The total number of people on death row rose from 423 in 1977 to a high of 3,601 in 2000, before declining slightly to 3,503 in 2004. Overall, the yearly average rose from 499 in the 1970s to 1,495 in the 1980s, 2,966 in the 1990s, and 3,523 in the 2000s. Although the overall average for the last five years is higher, the yearly figures have dipped somewhat, from 3,601 in 2000 to 3,577 in 2001, 3,562 in 2002, 3,374 in 2003, and 3,503 in 2004.

The first execution since the moratorium occurred in 1977, when Gary Gilmore was put to death in Utah. There were no executions in 1978, and only two in 1979. The number increased rather steadily to a high of 98 in 1999. Since then, it has declined to 59 in 2004. There were 117 in the 1980s (an average of 12 per year) and 478 in the 1990s (a yearly average of 48). There have been 346 in the 2000s (an average of 69 per year). Although the yearly average is higher than in the 1990s, the trend line is downward, from 85 in 2000, to 66 in 2001, 71 in 2002, 65 in 2003, and 59 in 2004.

Americans' attitudes about death penalty also are changing. Support for the death penalty declined in the 1950s and '60s, hitting a low of 42 percent in 1966. It rose during the 1980s and 1990s. By the mid-1990s, 75-80 percent of Americans supported it. In the last five years or so, support for the death penalty has declined. Most polls show the support has fallen to about 65 percent in the 2004 and 2005.

As support for the death penalty has fallen, support for life without parole has increased. For example, Gallup reports that, when Americans have been asked to choose between the death penalty and life without parole for convicted murderers, support for the death penalty fell from 61 percent in 1997 to 53 percent in 2003, while support for life without parole rose from 29 percent to 44 percent.

Thus, from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, death sentences, the number of death row inmates, executions, and Americans' support for the death penalty all increased. Since the late 1990s, all of these trends have been reversed. For the first time in over 20 years, America seems to be searching for an alternative to the death penalty. One of the leading options seems to be life without parole.

James D. Davidson is professor of sociology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. His new book, "Catholicism in Motion," will be published by Liguori/Triumph in October.