Inmates executed last year had spent less time on death row than in previous years, says a new federal study. As a result of efforts by state legislatures, Congress and the Supreme Court to speed up the appeals process, killers executed in 1998 spent three months less on death row than those put to death in 1997.

• The 68 inmates executed in 1998 were on death row an average of 10 years and 10 months, compared with 11 years and one month for the 74 inmates put to death in 1997.

• In 1998, 285 people were sent to death row, up from 268 the year before.

• Texas sent the most, 39, followed by California, Florida, Alabama and North Carolina.

A total of nearly 3,600 prisoners are waiting on death row across the United States.

Source: Nationline, "Study Shows that Time on Death Row Is Shorter," USA Today, December 13, 1999.