In a Gallup poll released on October 23, sup­port for the death penal­ty was 63%, remain­ing with­in the mar­gin of error of a 40-year low of 60% last year. These results rep­re­sent a dra­mat­ic shift in Americans’ views on the death penal­ty since the 1990’s, when sup­port for the death penal­ty peaked at 80%. Opposition to the death penal­ty has grown sig­nif­i­cant­ly among Democrats, more than dou­bling over the last 20 years, from 22% in 1994 to 46% today. When offered the alter­na­tive pun­ish­ment of life with­out parole, respon­dents are about even­ly split, with 50% favor­ing the death penal­ty and 45% favor­ing life with­out parole. Gallup high­light­ed the dra­mat­ic drop in sup­port since the 1990’s, say­ing, ​“These trends toward dimin­ished sup­port seem to be reflect­ed in state death penal­ty laws, as six U.S. states have abol­ished the death penal­ty since 2007, and no new states have adopt­ed it.” See below for a state­ment on the poll from DPIC’s Executive Director, Richard Dieter.

Statement of Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, on Today’s Gallup Poll

“Within the mar­gin of error, the Gallup Poll con­tin­ues to reg­is­ter his­toric lows in sup­port for the death penal­ty. Support has dropped over 15 per­cent­age points since its high of 80% in 1994. This over­all decline in pub­lic sup­port is also reflect­ed in the decrease in exe­cu­tions, death sen­tences, and the num­ber of states car­ry­ing out the death penal­ty. The recent exon­er­a­tions from death row and the botched exe­cu­tions ear­li­er this year have like­ly con­tributed to the pub­lic’s grow­ing dis­sat­is­fac­tion with a flawed sys­tem. Other recent polls have indi­cat­ed that when giv­en a choice between a sen­tence of life with­out parole and the death penal­ty, the life sen­tence is the pub­lic’s first choice.”

(J. Jones, ​“Americans’ Support for Death Penalty Stable,” Gallup, October 23, 2014.) See Public Opinion.

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