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A recent Gallup poll found the lowest level of support for the death penalty in America since 1972. Gallup’s October poll measured Americans’ abstract support at 60%, a 20-percentage point decline from 1994, when 80% of respondents were in favor of the death penalty for those convicted of murder. Support for the death penalty differed sharply among those who identified themselves with a political party: 81% of Republicans supported the death penalty, while only 47% of Democrats and 60% of Independents favored it. However, support among all three groups has dropped in the last 25 years, with the Democrats’ support declining 28 percentage points since its peak in 1994. This poll measured the public’s support for capital punishment in theory, without any comparison to other punishments. When Gallup and other polls have offered respondents a choice of the proper punishment for murder - the death penalty or life in prison without parole - respondents are about evenly split, with less than 50% supporting the death penalty. Gallup’s release noted that the decline in support may be linked to the issue of innocence, “The current era of lower support may be tied to death penalty moratoriums in several states beginning around 2000 after several death-row inmates were later proven innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted.” In the past 10 years, the percentage of Americans who believe the death penalty is applied fairly has dropped from 60% to 52%.
The poll was conducted between October 3-6, 2013, with a sample size of 1,028. The margin of error was +4 percentage points.
(J. Jones, “U.S. Death Penalty Support Lowest in More than 40 Years,” Gallup, October 29, 2013). See Public Opinion. See also Andrew Cohen’s article in The Atlantic, “What Americans Don’t Understand About the Death Penalty.”
