In the 1990s, the Gallup Poll measured support for the death penalty in the United States at 80%. Since then it has fallen into the mid 50%s. The death penalty has long been opposed by human rights and civil rights activists, who question whether capital punishment can be applied fairly and whether the risks of executing innocent people are too great, and by those who consider it morally wrong for the government to take the life of a prisoner who has already been incapacitated by incarceration. But a growing number of non-traditional voices have raised new concerns about the death penalty, questioning its cost, its ineffectiveness in protecting the public and police, the disservice it does to family members of murder victims, its inconsistency with a pro-life ethic and the values of limited government, and whether the money spent on the death penalty could be used more effectively. These new voices represent a variety of perspectives, from judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement veterans to legislators, academics, spiritual leaders, and murder victims’ families.
For more information about new voices in the death penalty discussion, see news features about:
Mar 19, 2021
The movement to repeal capital punishment in Ohio has gained additional steam as former Governor Robert Taft and former state attorneys general Jim Petro and Lee Fisher
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News & Developments
Recent Legislative Activity
Jun 02, 2023
Conservative Commentator Warns of Dangers of Non-Unanimous Death Sentences
Florida’s recent decision to allow death sentences without a unanimous jury recommendation increases the risk of executing an innocent person, according to conservative commentator Christian Schneider (pictured). In a May 25, 2023 column for Th…
Victims' Families
May 30, 2023
Victims’ Families are Divided Over Death Penalty as Bowers Trial Begins
On May 25, 2023, 12 death-qualified jurors and six alternates were selected in the federal capital trial of Robert Bowers, who is charged with killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. Prosecutors struck all the Black, Hispanic, an…