America’s death penalty divide: why capital punishment is getting better, and worse

This year the US saw the fewest executions since 1988, but those states sticking with judicial killings are displaying grotesque aberrations

More than half of the states in the US have either abolished the death penalty or have formal suspensions in place, as the country's use of the brutal punishment continues to wither on the vine.

When Virginia became the first southern state to scrap capital punishment in March, it raised to 23 the number of states that have abolished the practice outright. In a further three states, governors have imposed a moratorium on executions.