Public Opinion Polls
Political Party Platforms and the Death Penalty
2020 Party Platforms
2020 Democratic Party Platform (Draft) | |
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Reasserts 2016 platform’s call for the abolition of the death penalty. Our criminal justice system is failing to keep communities safe—and failing to deliver justice. America is the land of the free, and yet more of our people are behind bars, per capita, than anywhere else in the world. … Democrats believe we need to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom. … Sentencing decisions should be based on the facts of each case, including the severity of the offense and individuals’ circumstances. Democrats support allowing judges to determine appropriate sentences, which is why we will fight to repeal federal mandatory minimums, incentivize states to do the same, and make all sentencing reductions retroactive so judges can reconsider past cases where their hands were tied. We believe it is long past time to end the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine, which has contributed to the disproportionate imprisonment of people of color. And Democrats continue to support abolishing the death penalty. | The Republican National Committee’s Executive Committee voted on June 10, 2020, to adopt the same platform the party used in 2016. For relevant excerpts of the 2016 Republican Party Platform, see below. |
2016 Party Platforms
2012 Party Platforms
2012 Democratic Party Platform | 2012 Republican Party Platform |
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Says use of the death penalty “must not be arbitrary”: Public Safety, Justice, and Crime Prevention. In the last four years, rates of serious crimes, like murder, rape, and robbery, have reached 50-year lows, but there is more work to do. … We understand the disproportionate effects of crime, violence, and incarceration on communities of color and are committed to working with those communities to find solutions. We will continue to fight inequalities in our criminal justice system. We believe that the death penalty must not be arbitrary. DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, defendants should have effective assistance of counsel, and the administration of justice should be fair and impartial. | Supports the death penalty: Justice for All: Safe Neighborhoods and Prison Reform Courts should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases. |
2008 Party Platforms
2004 Party Platforms
2000 Party Platforms
1996 Party Platforms
1992 Party Platforms
1988 Party Platforms
1984 Party Platforms
1980 Party Platforms
1976 Party Platforms
1972 Party Platforms
1968 Party Platforms
1964 Party Platforms
1960 Party Platforms
The Fair Punishment Project has released an analysis of the political party platforms reported on this webpage. See Fair Punishment Project, THE HISTORY OF THE U.S. DEATH PENALTY AS TOLD THROUGH PARTY PLATFORMS, 1960-PRESENT (July 26, 2016).