---
title: 'A Crisis of Confidence'
description: 'Read the Newsweek Feature About DPIC’s Poll & Report The Trials of Darryl Hunt premieres around the USA DPIC’s New Poll and Report Shows America Becoming…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/a-crisis-of-confidence'
section: news
date: '2007-06-11T15:49:20-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:54:16-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! Read the [Newsweek Feature](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19253140/site/newsweek/)   
About DPIC's Poll & Report  
[The Trials of Darryl Hunt   
 premieres around the USA](/article.php?&did=2366)  
 DPIC's New Poll and Report Shows America Becoming More Distant from the Death Penalty   
 Because of mistakes and a lack of efficacy, the death penalty is losing the confidence of the American public, according to a new poll and report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center. **Nearly 40% of the American public believes they would be disqualified from serving on death penalty juries because of their moral beliefs.** The percentage is even higher among minorities and women.

The report, based on a poll by RT Strategies, found that a majority (58%) of the American population believes it is time for a moratorium on the death penalty while the process undergoes a careful review. Sixty percent (60%) of the public believes the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder.

Nearly all Americans (87%) believe that an innocent person has already been executed in recent years, and over half (55%) say that fact has affected their views on the death penalty. An overwhelming 69% of the public believes that reforms will not eliminate all wrongful convictions and executions. DPIC analyzes the poll results in a new report, [A Crisis of Confidence: Americans' Doubts About the Death Penalty. ](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/pdf/A-Crisis-of-Confidence.pdf)

"Public confidence in the death penalty has clearly eroded over the past 10 years, mostly as a result of DNA exonerations. Whether it is concern about executing the innocent, beliefs that the death penalty is not a deterrent, moral objections to taking human life, or a general sense that the system is too broken to be fixed, the bottom line is the same: Americans are moving away from the death penalty," said Richard Dieter, DPIC's Executive Director.

The poll sample included 1,000 adults nationwide and the margin of error was +3.1%.

- [Public Opinion](/public-opinion-about-death-penalty?did=209&scid=23)
- [Innocence](/innocence-and-death-penalty?did=412&scid=6)
- [DPIC's Press Release](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/CoCPressRelease.pdf)