---
title: 'PUBLIC OPINION: New Gallup Poll Reveals Growing Number of Americans Favors Life Without Parole'
description: 'A May 2006 Gallup Poll examining American opinion about the death penalty found that when given a choice between the sentencing options of life without…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-new-gallup-poll-reveals-growing-number-of-americans-favors-life-without-parole'
section: news
date: '2006-06-01T17:19:02-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:24:20-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

A May 2006 Gallup Poll examining American opinion about the death penalty found that when given a choice between the sentencing options of life without parole and the death penalty, **only 47% of respondents chose capital punishment, the lowest percentage in two decades. Forty-eight percent favored life without parole** for those convicted of murder. The poll also revealed that overall support for the death penalty remains low at 65%, down significantly from 1994 when 80% supported capital punishment.

When asked whether the death penalty deters murder, 64% of those polled stated that it does not; only 34% believe it does deter. This is a dramatic shift from the 1980s and early 1990s, when the majority of Americans still believed that the death penalty prevented murder. 63% of those polled believe that an innocent person has been executed in the past 5 years, an increase over previous results.

(Gallup News Service, June 1, 2006). See [Public Opinion](/public-opinion-about-death-penalty?did=209&scid=23) and [Life Without Parole](/life-without-parole?did=555&scid=59).