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Entries tagged with “Pew Research Center”

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 office and gained new footholds in coun­ties across the country.

Policy Issues

Deterrence

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Innocence

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Public Opinion

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Apr 17, 2015

National Polls Show Historic Declines in Support for Death Penalty

(Click image to enlarge) Polls released this week by Pew Research Center and CBS News show that pub­lic sup­port for the death penal­ty has declined to near his­toric lows. Both polls report­ed that 56% of Americans sup­port the death penal­ty. That is the low­est lev­el of sup­port ever record­ed by the CBS News poll, and near the low­est lev­el report­ed by Pew in the last 40 years. The Pew poll exam­ined lev­els of sup­port by polit­i­cal par­ty and found that the decline in sup­port for the death penal­ty is particularly…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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Public Opinion

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Mar 31, 2014

Pew Poll Finds Opposition to Death Penalty Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities

Further analy­sis of a recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that sup­port for the death penal­ty was sig­nif­i­cant­ly low­er among some racial and eth­nic minori­ties than for the gen­er­al pop­u­la­tion. More Hispanics oppose the death penal­ty (50%) than sup­port it (40%), and the same is true of African Americans, with only about a third (36%) favor­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and a major­i­ty (55%) oppos­ing it. Democrats are about even­ly split, with 45% in favor and 47% opposed, while 71% of Republicans sup­port it. Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics were…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Jun 12, 2018

Pew Poll Finds Uptick in Death Penalty Support, Though Still Near Historic Lows

Just under 54% of Americans say they sup­port the death penal­ty and 39% say they are opposed, accord­ing to the results of a Pew Research poll released June 11, 2018. The poll — admin­is­tered between April 25 and May 1, one month after President Trump called for the death penal­ty for drug traf­fick­ing — reflects a five-point increase in sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, up from the record-low 49% record­ed in Pew’s 2016 poll.

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Feb 14, 2014

Pew Poll Shows Sharp Drop in Death Penalty Support

Support for the death penal­ty has fall­en sharply by 23 per­cent­age points since 1996, reach­ing its low­est lev­el in almost two decades, accord­ing to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. The 2013 poll also found a 10 point drop in just the last 2 years in respon­dents who say they ​“strong­ly favor” the death penal­ty, from 28% to 18%. The per­cent­age of Americans who say they oppose the death penal­ty has risen to 37%. In 2011, Pew asked respon­dents about the rea­sons behind their views on the death…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Sep 30, 2016

PEW POLL: Public Support for the Death Penalty Drops Below 50% for First Time in 45 Years

Public sup­port for the death penal­ty fell by 7 per­cent­age points in the last year, with few­er than half of Americans (49%) now say­ing they sup­port the death penal­ty, accord­ing to a nation­al Pew Research Center poll released on September 29. The poll marks the first time in 45 years that sup­port for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment polled below 50%, when a Gallup poll in released in November 1971 also report­ed that 49% of Americans sup­port­ed the death penal­ty. Opposition to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment reached a record high since the U.S. Supreme Court’s…