A recent Pew Research Center poll revealed a sig­nif­i­cant decline in sup­port for the death penal­ty as 64% of respon­dents sup­port­ed the pun­ish­ment com­pared to 78% in 1996. In addi­tion, the poll found that few­er respon­dents who favored cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment felt strong­ly about their sup­port (28% today com­pared to 43% in 1996), while a grow­ing num­ber of Americans are voic­ing oppo­si­tion to the pun­ish­ment alto­geth­er (30% today com­pared to 18% in 1996).

Other Pew Research Center polling results include:

  • 58% of Americans oppose the exe­cu­tion of per­sons who com­mit mur­der when they were under the age of 18. Among African-American vot­ers, 80% oppose the juve­nile death penalty. 
  • 55% of African-Americans oppose cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, and 39% favor its use. These find­ings are a reverse of polling data col­lect­ed in 1996 that showed 54% of African-Americans sup­port­ing the death penal­ty and 36% opposed to the punishment. 
  • Today, just over half of Hispanics sup­port the death penal­ty com­pared to three-in-four in 1996. 
  • Support for the death penal­ty among main­line Protestants has dropped from 85% in 1996 to 70% today. Among white Catholics, 69% cur­rent­ly sup­port cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment com­pared to 79% in 1996. Secular sup­port has also slipped, down from 78% in 1996 to 60% today.

(“Religion and Politics: Contention and Consensus,” Pew Research Center, July 24, 2003). Read the report. See Public Opinion.

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