Study Finds Texans Lack Confidence in Death Penalty, Support Halt to Executions

An arti­cle pub­lished in the September 2004 issue of Justice Quarterly revealed that 64% of Texans sup­port a halt to exe­cu­tions while ques­tions of fair­ness and accu­ra­cy are addressed, and 48% of respon­dents lack con­fi­dence in the state’s cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment sys­tem. The find­ings were based on the 2002 edi­tion of the annu­al Texas Crime Poll and the sur­vey exam­ined five key areas of con­cern about the death penal­ty, includ­ing ques­tions relat­ed to inno­cence, fair­ness, race, rep­re­sen­ta­tion, and the appeals process. Researchers Scott Vollum, Dennis Longmire, and Jacqueline Buffington-Vollum of Sam Houston State University ana­lyzed the results in their arti­cle, Confidence in the Death Penalty and Support for Its Use: Exploring the Value-Expressive Dimension of Death Penalty Attitudes. (21 Justice Quarterly 521 (2004)). See Public Opinion, Innocence, and Race.