TODAY'S LAT reports that American juries are becoming increasingly reluctant to impose the death penalty. "In 1999, 276 death sentences were imposed. The figure has dropped every year since, falling to 125 last year. With 10 days to go in 2005, 96 death sentences are projected to be handed down this year, the lowest total since 1976." Experts offer several reasons for the declining numbers, "prime among them the fact" that jurors in 37 of the nation's 38 death penalty states are now allowed to hand down sentences of life without parole.