According to the 2012 American Values Survey con­duct­ed by the Public Religion Research Institute, Americans are now even­ly divid­ed on whether the death penal­ty or life with­out parole is the appro­pri­ate pun­ish­ment for mur­der, while Catholics more strong­ly favor life sen­tences. The September sur­vey found that 47% of respon­dents favored life with­out parole, while 46% opt­ed for the death penal­ty. The poll showed that life with­out parole was favored by Democrats (57%), African-Americans (64%), Hispanic-Americans (56%), and mil­len­ni­als (age 18 to 29) (55%). Support for the death penal­ty was stronger among Republicans (59%), Tea Party mem­bers (61%), and white Americans (53%). Catholic respon­dents favored life with­out parole by a greater mar­gin (52% to 41%) than the gen­er­al pop­u­la­tion. Moreover, Catholics who attend­ed church at least once a week were even more opposed to the death penal­ty (57% to 37% favor­ing life with­out parole) than those who attend­ed less frequently.

The sur­vey explored many oth­er issues, as well. The mar­gin of error in the poll was 2%. The Public Religion Research Institute is a non­prof­it, non­par­ti­san research and edu­ca­tion orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to work at the inter­sec­tion of reli­gion, val­ues, and public life.

(R. Jones, et al., ​“The 2012 American Values Survey,” Public Religion Research Institute, October 23, 2012). See Public Opinion and Religion.

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