Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty Remains Near 25-Year Low

The lat­est Gallup Poll on the death penal­ty shows 65% of Americans sup­port the death penal­ty, sig­nif­i­cant­ly low­er than the 80% sup­port record­ed in 1994 and near the low­est sup­port of 64% in the past 25 years record­ed last year. Only 57% believe the death penal­ty is fair­ly applied, and 59% of Americans believe that an inno­cent per­son has been exe­cut­ed in the last five years. Gallup report­ed that sup­port for the death penal­ty is low­er if Americans are offered an explic­it alter­na­tive, such as life impris­on­ment with absolute­ly no pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. The last time that Gallup offered such alter­na­tives in 2006, only 47% pre­ferred the death penal­ty, while 48% sup­port­ed life impris­on­ment with no parole.

View the entire report here.

(F. Newport, ​“In U.S., Two-Thirds Continue to Support Death Penalty,” Gallup Press Release, October 13, 2009). To see oth­er sur­veys and reports, vis­it our Studies page. See also Public Opinion.