For the past three years, capital punishment sentences have been decreasing. In 2003, 144 inmates were given the death penalty, the lowest of death sentences in thirty years. Many believe that the public is more aware of the issues regarding the death penalty and is therefore more hesitant and skeptical of imposing execution. Life without parole has become the alternative to the death penalty. Forty-seven states now offer life without parole as a possible sentence, depending on the conviction.