Public Opinion: Poll Finds North Carolinians Favor a Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Sixty-five percent of voters in North Carolina favor suspending the death penalty until questions about its accuracy and fairness can be studied according to a recent Hart Research poll sponsored by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.The poll found that even among voters who identify themselves as strong supporters of the death penalty, 43% still favor a moratorium on executions while an in-depth study of capital punishment is conducted.

Sixty-five percent of voters in North Carolina favor suspending the death penalty until questions about its accuracy and fairness can be studied according to a recent Hart Research poll sponsored by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. The poll found that even among voters who identify themselves as strong supporters of the death penalty, 43% still favor a moratorium on executions while an in-depth study of capital punishment is conducted.

In other results, the poll revealed that 64% of voters who favor the death penalty and 90% of voters who oppose capital punishment back a temporary halt on executions until a study determines whether defendants in death penalty cases have had access to competent legal counsel and evidence that might demonstrate their evidence, such as DNA. Among Republican respondents, 54% said they support a moratorium, and 76% of Democratic respondents favored it. The poll also found that 54% of men, 74% of women, 61% of whites, and 78% of African Americans support a moratorium on executions.

In 2004, the North Carolina Senate passed legislation that would have temporarily halted executions while a death penalty study was conducted, but the measure failed to pass out of the full legislature . A new House Select Study Committee on Capital Punishment is scheduled to meet for the first time in December to begin studying issues related to the accuracy and fairness of North Carolina’s death penalty. The panel’s recommendations will be considered by the General Assembly when it reconvenes in May. (North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Press Release, “New Poll Finds Majority of North Carolinians Favor a Moratorium on the Death Penalty, December 1, 2005). See Public Opinion.