Most New Yorkers would choose a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) over the death penalty for those convicted of murder. In a recent poll published in Newsday, 53% of N.Y. adults said LWOP is the better penalty, whereas only 38% chose the death penalty, with 9% uncertain. New York’s death penalty was found unconstitutional by the state’s highest court in 2004. The legislature elected not to modify the statute.
(Source: Blum and Weprin Associates / Newsday — Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,457 New York adults, conducted from Feb. 26 to Mar. 5, 2006; Angus Reid Global Scan, March 11, 2006).
Citation Guide
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). OPINION POLLS: Majority of New Yorkers Reject the Death Penalty. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/opinion-polls-majority-of-new-yorkers-reject-the-death-penalty
- Death Penalty Information Center. “OPINION POLLS: Majority of New Yorkers Reject the Death Penalty.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/opinion-polls-majority-of-new-yorkers-reject-the-death-penalty.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “OPINION POLLS: Majority of New Yorkers Reject the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/opinion-polls-majority-of-new-yorkers-reject-the-death-penalty. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.
