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Entries tagged with “Gallup”

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Oct 23, 2014

Death Penalty Support Remains Near 40-Year Low

In a Gallup poll released on October 23, sup­port for the death penal­ty was 63%, remain­ing with­in the mar­gin of error of a 40-year low of 60% last year. These results rep­re­sent a dra­mat­ic shift in Americans’ views on the death penal­ty since the 1990’s, when sup­port for the death penal­ty peaked at 80%. Opposition to the death penal­ty has grown sig­nif­i­cant­ly among Democrats, more than dou­bling over the last 20 years, from 22% in 1994 to 46% today. When offered the alternative…

Facts & Research

History of the Death Penalty

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Murder Rates

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Public Opinion

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Oct 22, 2018

Gallup Poll — Fewer than Half of Americans, a New Low, Believe Death Penalty is Applied Fairly

Fewer than half of Americans now believe the death penal­ty is fair­ly applied in the United States, accord­ing to the 2018 annu­al Gallup crime poll of U.S. adults, con­duct­ed October 1 – 10. The 49% of Americans who said they believed the death penal­ty was ​“applied fair­ly” was the low­est Gallup has ever record­ed since it first includ­ed the ques­tion in its crime poll in 2000. The per­cent­age of U.S. adults who said they believe the death penal­ty is unfair­ly applied rose to 45%, the…

Policy Issues

Sentencing Alternatives

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Public Opinion

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Nov 25, 2019

Gallup Poll — For First Time, Majority of Americans Prefer Life Sentence To Capital Punishment

For the first time since Gallup began ask­ing the ques­tion in 1985, a major­i­ty of Americans now say life impris­on­ment is a bet­ter approach for pun­ish­ing mur­der than is the death penal­ty. According to the 2019 Gallup death-penal­ty poll (click here to enlarge graph­ic), 60% per­cent of Americans asked to choose whether the death penal­ty or life with­out pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole ​“is the bet­ter penal­ty for mur­der” chose the life-sen­tenc­ing option. 36% favored the death…

Policy Issues

Sentencing Alternatives

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Public Opinion

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Nov 24, 2020

Gallup Poll: Public Support for the Death Penalty Lowest in a Half-Century

Public sup­port for the death penal­ty is at its low­est lev­el in a half-cen­tu­ry, with oppo­si­tion high­er than any time since 1966, accord­ing to the 2020 annu­al Gallup poll on Americans’ atti­tudes about capital…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Oct 26, 2016

Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty at Lowest Level Since 1972

Support for the death penal­ty in the United States is at its low­est lev­el since November 1972, accord­ing to a Gallup poll released October 25. Gallup report­ed that 60% of respon­dents said they sup­port cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment — off one per­cent­age point from last year — while oppo­si­tion remained at 37%, match­ing its high­est lev­el since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penal­ty in 1972. Support has dropped 9 points since 2007 and 20 points since its peak in 1994. The results reflect the same…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Oct 16, 2015

Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty Declines 2%, Opposition Reaches Highest Level in 43 Years

Support for the death penal­ty in the United States dropped by two per­cent­age points over the last year and oppo­si­tion rose to its high­est lev­els since before the Supreme Court declared exist­ing death penal­ty statutes uncon­sti­tu­tion­al in 1972, accord­ing to the 2015 annu­al Gallup Poll on the death penal­ty. Gallup reports that 61% of Americans say they favor the death penal­ty, down from 63% last year and near the 40-year low of 60% sup­port record­ed in 2013. Support was 19 points below the 80%…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Oct 26, 2017

GALLUP POLL: Support for Death Penalty in U.S. Falls to a 45-Year Low

“Americans’ sup­port for the death penal­ty has dipped to a lev­el not seen in 45 years,” accord­ing to the results of the 2017 Gallup poll released on October 26. Gallup report­ed that, in a nation­wide sur­vey of 1,028 adults polled October 5 – 11, 2017, 55% of Americans said they are ​“in favor of the death penal­ty for a per­son con­vict­ed of mur­der,” down from a report­ed 60% in October 2016. The five per­cent­age-point decline rep­re­sent­ed an 8% decrease in the lev­el of sup­port for the…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Dec 06, 2022

Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime

In a year that fea­tured mas­sive cam­paign adver­tis­ing attempt­ing to por­tray legal reform­ers as respon­si­ble for increas­es in vio­lent crime, can­di­dates com­mit­ted to crim­i­nal legal reform or who promised to con­tin­ue statewide mora­to­ria on exe­cu­tions post­ed key elec­tion wins in the 2022 midterm elec­tions. Defying a pre-elec­tion nar­ra­tive fore­cast­ing a back­lash against pro­gres­sive pros­e­cu­tors and con­ven­tion­al wis­dom that fear of crime dri­ves polit­i­cal out­comes, reform pros­e­cu­tors were re-elect­ed to…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Jun 16, 2022

Percentage of Americans Who View the Death Penalty as Morally Acceptable Remains Near Record Low

The per­cent­age of Americans who find the death penal­ty moral­ly accept­able remains near a record low, accord­ing to a new poll released by the Gallup orga­ni­za­tion on June 9, 2022. 55% of respon­dents to Gallup’s annu­al Values and Beliefs Survey told Gallup that they con­sid­er the death penal­ty moral­ly accept­able, frac­tion­al­ly above the record low of 54% in the orga­ni­za­tion’s 2020 sur­vey. The num­ber match­es the 55% lev­el of accept­abil­i­ty report­ed in the 2021 Values and Beliefs…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Nov 06, 2023

POLL: For the First Time, More Americans Believe the Death Penalty Is Applied Unfairly in the United States

The Gallup Crime Survey has asked about the fair­ness of death penal­ty appli­ca­tion in the United States since 2000. For the first time, the October 2023 sur­vey reports that more Americans believe the death penal­ty is applied unfair­ly (50%) than fair­ly (47%). Between 2000 and 2015, 51%-61% of Americans said they thought cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was applied fair­ly in the U.S., but this num­ber has been drop­ping since 2016. This year’s num­ber of 47% rep­re­sents a his­toric low in the his­to­ry of Gallup’s…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Jan 14, 2013

PUBLIC OPINION: 2012 Gallup Poll Shows Support for Death Penalty Remains Near 40-Year Low

A recent Gallup Poll mea­sured Americans’ abstract sup­port for the death penal­ty at 63%, the sec­ond-low­est lev­el of sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment since 1978, and a sig­nif­i­cant decline from 1994, when 80% of respon­dents were in favor of the death penal­ty. Gallup not­ed the results of the poll may have been affect­ed by the fact that it was con­duct­ed a few days after the shoot­ings in Newtown, Connecticut. In 2011 Gallup found 61% in sup­port of the death penal­ty, the low­est level…

Policy Issues

Sentencing Alternatives

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Public Opinion

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Oct 14, 2011

PUBLIC OPINION: Gallup Poll Reports Lowest Support for Death Penalty in Nearly 40 Years

Recent polls con­duct­ed by Gallup and CNN indi­cate Americans’ sup­port for the death penal­ty is con­tin­u­ing to decline. According to Gallup’s 2011 poll, the per­cent­age of Americans approv­ing the death penal­ty as a pun­ish­ment for mur­der dropped to its low­est lev­el in 39 years. Only 61% sup­port­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the­o­ry, down from 64% last year and from 80% sup­port in 1994. This is the low­est lev­el of sup­port since 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court rul­ing in…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Religion

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May 31, 2012

PUBLIC OPINION: Public Finds Death Penalty Less Morally Acceptable in New Gallup Survey

Gallup recent­ly released its Values and Beliefs sur­vey regard­ing American moral views on a vari­ety of social issues. The results revealed a sig­nif­i­cant decline in the per­cent­age of the pub­lic that finds the death penal­ty ​“moral­ly accept­able.” This year, only 58% of respon­dents said the death penal­ty is moral­ly accept­able, down from 65% last year. (Click on graph to enlarge.) This marks the low­est approval rat­ing for capital…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Public Opinion

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Oct 31, 2013

PUBLIC OPINION: Support for Death Penalty At Its Lowest in 40 Years

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…