A new poll found that Americans oppose the death penal­ty for peo­ple with men­tal ill­ness by more than a 2 – 1 mar­gin. According to Public Policy Polling, 58% of respon­dents opposed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment for peo­ple with men­tal ill­ness, while only 28% sup­port­ed it. Professor Robert Smith, an assis­tant pro­fes­sor of law at the University of North Carolina who com­mis­sioned the poll, said, ​“Today’s impor­tant polling is part of sig­nif­i­cant new research which clear­ly shows an emerg­ing con­sen­sus against using cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in cas­es where the defen­dant is men­tal­ly ill. … Combining this pub­lic polling, sen­tenc­ing prac­tices, and the rec­om­men­da­tions of the men­tal health med­ical com­mu­ni­ty, it’s clear that a con­sen­sus is emerg­ing against the exe­cu­tion of a per­son like Scott Panetti, who suf­fers from a debil­i­tat­ing (men­tal) ill­ness .…” Opposition to the exe­cu­tion of peo­ple with men­tal ill­ness was strong across lines of race, gen­der, geo­graph­ic region, polit­i­cal affil­i­a­tion, and edu­ca­tion. Democrats (62%), Republicans (59%) and Independents (51%) all opposed the prac­tice. The results echo the grow­ing num­ber of promi­nent lead­ers speak­ing out against the exe­cu­tion of Panetti in Texas, sched­uled for December 3.

(“New Nationwide Poll Shows Americans Oppose Death Penalty in Cases where Person has Mental Illness By 2 – 1 Margin,” Prof. Robert Smith, Press Release, December 1, 2014; Public Policy Polling, National Survey Results, November 24 – 25, 2014). See Public Opinion and Mental Illness.

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