“Americans’ support for the death penalty has dipped to a level not seen in 45 years,” according to the results of the 2017 Gallup poll released on October 26. Gallup reported that, in a nationwide survey of 1,028 adults polled October 5 – 11, 2017, 55% of Americans said they are “in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder,” down from a reported 60% in October 2016. The five percentage-point decline represented an 8% decrease in the level of support for the death penalty nationwide and, Gallup said, “continue[s] a trend toward diminished death penalty support” in the United States. This year’s results reflected the lowest level of support for the death penalty in the U.S. since March 1972 — just before the June 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia declared the nation’s death-penalty laws unconstitutional — and was 25 percentage points below the peak of 80% of Americans who said in September 1994 that they supported in the death penalty. In September 2016, a Pew Research Center poll also measured support for the death penalty at the lowest level in 45 years, with 49% of Americans saying they supported the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. The 2017 Gallup results simultaneously reflect a continuing party-based divergence in views on the death penalty and a steep drop among Republicans in support for capital punishment. While 72% of Republicans say they favor the death penalty, as compared to 58% of Independents and 39% of Democrats, death-penalty support among Republicans fell by ten percentage points, from 82% just before the presidential election in October 2016. Death-penalty support has plummeted 26 percentage points among Democrats — a 40% decline — since 2002, when 65% told Gallup they favored capital punishment. Long-term death-penalty support has also declined among respondents identifying themselves as Independents, with respect to whom it has fallen ten percentage points since 2000, when Gallup measured it at 68%. Although support for capital punishment overall has declined significantly this century, 51% of Americans told Gallup that they believe that the death penalty is applied fairly — the same percentage as in 2000. A solid core of 39% believe the death penalty is not imposed enough — down 14 percentage points from May 2005, but roughly equal to the 38% who gave that response when Gallup asked that question in May 2001. The Gallup poll also reported opposition to the death penalty at 41%. The last time Gallup reported higher opposition to the death penalty was 51 years ago, in May 1966, when 47% of respondents said they opposed capital punishment. (Click here for enlarged graph.)
(J. Jones, “U.S. Death Penalty Support Lowest Since 1972,” Gallup News Service, October 26, 2017; L. Saad, “Gallup Poll Social Series: Crime, Death Penalty Topline,” Gallup News Service, October 26, 2017.) See Public Opinion.
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). GALLUP POLL: Support for Death Penalty in U.S. Falls to a 45-Year Low. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/gallup-poll-support-for-death-penalty-in-u-s-falls-to-a-45-year-low
- Death Penalty Information Center. “GALLUP POLL: Support for Death Penalty in U.S. Falls to a 45-Year Low.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/gallup-poll-support-for-death-penalty-in-u-s-falls-to-a-45-year-low.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “GALLUP POLL: Support for Death Penalty in U.S. Falls to a 45-Year Low.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/gallup-poll-support-for-death-penalty-in-u-s-falls-to-a-45-year-low. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.
