A recent Kansas poll found that near­ly two-thirds of respon­dents said they pre­fer a sen­tence of life in prison with­out parole in which the offend­ers would work in prison to pay resti­tu­tion to the vic­tims’ fam­i­lies as an alter­na­tive to the death penal­ty. The poll also revealed that many Kansans think cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment is hand­ed out unfair­ly. Fifty-sev­en per­cent of respon­dents said they believe that some peo­ple are exe­cut­ed while oth­ers serve prison time for the same type of offense.

​“There is not over­whelm­ing sup­port for the death penal­ty where there is an alter­na­tive avail­able,” said Ben Coats of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the orga­ni­za­tion that spon­sored the statewide poll con­duct­ed by Jayhawk Consulting Services.

Since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in Kansas in 1994, 10 peo­ple have been sen­tenced to death, but none have been exe­cut­ed. Of the ten death sen­tences, one was removed by the pros­e­cu­tor’s request, and two have been vacat­ed by the Kansas Supreme Court. 

(Lawrence Journal-World, February 13, 2007). See Public Opinion and Life Without Parole. View a video ana­lyz­ing the poll results.

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