A recent poll administered by the Center for Survey Research at Penn State Harrisburg revealed that more Pennsylvanians prefer a life sentence over the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The poll found that only 42.9% of respondents chose the death penalty when also given the sentencing options of life with parole and life without parole. A total of 45% of respondents chose either life-without-parole (35.5%) or the sentence of life-with-parole (9.6%). Larry Frankel, legislative director for the ACLU, cited Pennsylvania’s six death-row exonerations compared with three executions since 1976 as “proof the system doesn’t work all the time.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 10, 2007).
Additional information about the poll may be found at https://www.aclupa.org/downloads/PennStatePollDPresults.pdf.
See Public Opinion and Life Without Parole.
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). PUBLIC OPINION: Pennsylvanians Prefer Life Sentences Over Death Penalty. Retrieved October 4, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-pennsylvanians-prefer-life-sentences-over-death-penalty
- Death Penalty Information Center. “PUBLIC OPINION: Pennsylvanians Prefer Life Sentences Over Death Penalty.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 4, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-pennsylvanians-prefer-life-sentences-over-death-penalty.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “PUBLIC OPINION: Pennsylvanians Prefer Life Sentences Over Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-pennsylvanians-prefer-life-sentences-over-death-penalty. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.
