constitutional issues are addressed . If the high court finds the procedures unconstitutional , it could take years before death-penalty states would meet legal standards necessary to resume lethal injection . And even if the method is declared acceptable , it would be months before new execution dates could be set . Ten states carried out executions this year . Outside the South , Arizona , South Dakota , Indiana , and Ohio together subjected six men to lethal injection . Learn about states ' death penalty policies and statistics '' Texas continues to lead the nation , with 62 percent of executions nationwide this year . Overall , 86 percent this year were in the South . No more executions are scheduled this year . `` The death penalty has been in a period of decline for many years , '' said Richard Dieter , executive director of DPIC . `` Two thousand seven will be known as the year executions came to a temporary halt and as the year of concrete legislation reconsidering the death penalty . '' Death penalty supporters acknowledge that states outside the South have been reluctant to impose the punishment , even in the
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A day after New Jersey banned executions , newly released figures show that capital punishment dropped this year to a 13-year low . The Supreme Court will hold oral arguments January 7 about the constitutionality of lethal injection protocols . Forty-two people have been put to death this year , according to the Death Penalty Information Center -LRB- DPIC -RRB- , a Washington-based group that opposes the practice . That figure is down 57 percent from what it was in 1999 , when 98 inmates were executed . Next year 's figures are expected to drop further . The Supreme Court is to hold oral arguments January 7 about whether lethal injection protocols in 36 of the 37 states with the death penalty are constitutional . See how the rates have dropped '' The justices placed a moratorium on executions in late September , when they decided to review a Kentucky case about whether the three-drug lethal `` cocktail '' of chemicals represents `` cruel and unusual punishment , '' since it may cause excruciating pain to inmates unable to express discomfort . Stays of executions have been issued in several states until the larger