Gallup Poll: 35 Percent Of Americans Oppose Death Penalty

By Gary Strauss
USA Today

(RNS) More than one-third of Americans now oppose the death penalty -- the highest level in nearly 40 years -- according to a new Gallup Poll.

Moreover, those who believe the death penalty is being applied fairly, and those who say it isn't used often enough, are at the lowest levels in a decade, underscoring significant changes in attitudes.

The Gallup Poll released Thursday (Oct. 13) found that 35 percent oppose the death penalty -- the highest opposition since March 1972. That year, the Supreme Court effectively ruled that the death penalty was constitutional unless it was applied unfairly. By 1976, several states had reinstituted capital punishment.

Just 40 percent of those polled last week believe the death penalty isn't imposed often enough, the lowest level since May 2001.

The poll was conducted shortly after two controversial cases drew attention: the September execution of Troy Davis and last week's Supreme Court hearing involving Alabama death row inmate Cory Maples.

Davis was executed despite evidence that he may have been wrongly convicted in the 1989 murder of a Georgia police officer.

Maples was convicted of murdering two companions, but his death sentence is being appealed because his court-appointed lawyers failed to present key evidence about his background during the penalty phase of his trial.

Increasingly, death penalty cases are also viewed as being costly and providing little deterrent against serious crimes, says Barry
Scheck, a law professor and co-director of the Innocence Project, which, like the American Bar Association, is seeking a moratorium on executions.

"The general public doesn't believe that the death penalty is a deterrent or is making anyone safer," Scheck said.

He added that the Gallup Poll may underestimate opposition to capital punishment because it doesn't ask a key question: whether those polled view life imprisonment as a better alternative.

(Gary Strauss writes for USA Today.)

Comments

[Robert Frano]

03:00 PM on 10/19/2011

I've read that Tony 'Oil-Merchant-O'-Death' Blair, welcomed with much public fanfare into the holy, apostolic prolife Catholic church, (known as 'Big Tony Lap Dog' to his mob-intimates), has said he'd, "...do Iraq, Afganistan & Pakistan all over again", even w/o the (invented) W.M.D.'s, which, despite existing ONLY as a fantasy, were, somehow, on "45 minute launch status", per CondiSleeza Rice...
For the record, I am NOT suggesting 'assisination', I am suggeting 'trial, for crimes against humanity / against the earth, followed by a judicial execution if/when found guilty'...
What would be the proper method of judicial execution for Mr. Blair? BTW, The pro-lifers wrapped in the mantle of the phrase 'Bush cabinet' are NOT excused from this courthouse fun!
What's that?
You say that the 'Bushies', the 'Blairs' & the 'J.Ratzingers/W. Jeffs' of this world deserve some measure of 'deference' due to the extream demands of their decision making? ...I own this bridge in Brooklyn, and it's for sale...cheap!

[Luman Walter]

04:52 PM on 10/18/2011

80% of Americans worship a legally executed criminal as a God and for 1,800 years Christians have accused Jews of wrongfully convicting and executing him. Go figger? Do you think DNA would have cleared him?

[pookeydo]

08:47 PM on 10/18/2011

No true Christian accuses or convicts anyone for the death of Christ. That is what was supposed to happen

[Luman Walter]

10:51 PM on 10/18/2011

Oh, true Christians. So all of western civilization for the last 1,800 years must have been absent from Sunday School during that lesson. True, Christians I wonder why no one has thought of that before. I bet that whole inquisition thingy happened because Torquemada had such low self-esteem from not being a true follower of the convicted capital criminal.

[AbrahamMcLemore]

03:48 PM on 10/18/2011

How come the title isn't:

"65 percent of Americans favor the death penalty"

[Wanderland]

03:30 PM on 10/18/2011

Certainly there are people who deserve the death penalty. Sometimes I'm ready to volunteer to pull the switch myself.

But our justice system is way too flawed for executions. At least one of Rick Perry's executions is known to be innocent of the heinous crime of which he was accused. I'd rather see the worst criminals get solitary confinement for life. That's at least reversible.

[Shane Ricks]

03:39 PM on 10/18/2011

And if only the death of the victims could be reversed when it was determined they were innocent as well. But unfortunately they can't.

[Wanderland]

05:43 PM on 10/18/2011

So your answer is kill a few people who are innocent, and that's just a little cost of justice? Great idea.

[iknowscottyknows]

10:24 PM on 10/18/2011

At least one, huh? Which one?

I think it was all of them. They're all innocent...just ask them.

[Wanderland]

08:53 AM on 10/19/2011

How about this one? Put yourself in this man's place:

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Cameron_Todd_Willingham_Wrongfully_Convicted_and_Executed_in_Texas.php

[Shane Ricks]

03:14 PM on 10/18/2011

What is disturbing is that the victim or the victim's family may or may not see any compensation for their loss, but these people are insisting we pay millions of dollars to keep alive murderers. How is that for a statement of value. Victims of murder are worth whatever their families can manage, but murderers are worth millions.

[gilcasanova]

03:25 PM on 10/18/2011

I think it would be better if we payed millions of dollars to keep murderers alive than paying billions to stupid executives who are responsible for the blatant inequality which is fuel of violence in many levels.

[Shane Ricks]

03:28 PM on 10/18/2011

Neither is an option. Inequality doesn't cause violence. It's just a good justification for poor decision making.

[gilcasanova]

03:11 PM on 10/18/2011

Killing someone is a stupid kind of revenge (if you are into revenge). By killing a murderer you are giving him/her an very easy way out. Life without parole would make more sense even for christians. A murderer could be converted and wait for his life in heaven or wherever. That is, if christians are willing to visit prison to preach, which I don't think they would.

If you don't want muderers, you don't worry about killing them, you worry about how does one starts feeling like killing someone. Cause and effect. It shouldn't be too big a question for christians, since they refer to themselves as 'the light' and ' the salt of the earth', and their scripture as 'useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.'

[Shane Ricks]

03:16 PM on 10/18/2011

Yeah in the old days you killed the best man in the murderer's family as compensation for the loss of one of your own as a result of the murderer's deeds.

[errol44]

12:33 PM on 10/18/2011

It is interesting that so many commenters here claim to be Christians who support the death penalty, whereas it was my own personal conversion to Christ which made me realize how wrong the death penalty is.

[iknowscottyknows]

10:29 PM on 10/18/2011

Why would it? God is just, and it is a just penalty for murder.

[errol44]

07:55 AM on 10/19/2011

Since you and you alone know what God sees as "just," I guess I should feel fortunate that you took the time to enlighten me.

[Vincent Truman]

11:13 PM on 10/17/2011

Wow. A third of people think 'thou shalt not kill' might have some validity. Now that's progress.

[pookeydo]

10:33 AM on 10/18/2011

Truman, please do not quote the reference if you do not understand the reference. The sixth commandment “you shall not kill” (or you shall not murder) means to kill someone for personal gain, as in robbery. Every scholar that has gone back to the ancient texts (such as the Dead Sea scrolls) has confirmed this.

[AbrahamMcLemore]

03:45 PM on 10/18/2011

And, when examining context, include the penalty for such 'murder'. Its in the very next chapter.

Exodus 21:12
“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

[Luman Walter]

05:07 PM on 10/18/2011

And yet four hundred years after the publication of the King James Bible none of those so called scholars has ever changed Exodus 20:13. It still says "Thou shalt not kill". Last time I checked there are no ( ) in the Bible that would be interpreting the word of God and he apparently frowns on that. He's an all or nothing kinda guy.

[jokamachi]

06:29 PM on 10/17/2011

No one has the authority to take the life of another, not even the state.

[freethnkr88]

09:09 PM on 10/17/2011

well the death penalty is usually used for people who don't share your line of thinking...i.e MURDERERS . You have the right to your opinion but why should we shelter, feed and provide healthcare (that's right healthcare) for people who have killed and are likely to do so again?

[jokamachi]

09:38 PM on 10/17/2011

So we lower ourselves to that level. Nice. And for the record... it's not about feeding and sheltering and giving health care... it's about incarceration. Deathers always roll out the money argument when they want to take a life. And sadly, they usually succeed with such a line of reasoning. But for the sake of argument, I'll bite. Let's see. What's the cost of an execution these days? Rather high last time I checked....

But for the sake of argument, take money out of your equation. Defend it on moral grounds. I'd like to hear your take on it.

[Luman Walter]

05:11 PM on 10/18/2011

Because that is humane and we should possibly strive to be better as a society than your average murderer? Not much of a free thinker if you can't rise above your basic animal instincts to kill for the sake of killing.

[iknowscottyknows]

10:30 PM on 10/18/2011

Or the murderer? The left always forgets about the murderer....uh, I mean, the victim. Yeah, that's why.

[jokamachi]

12:14 AM on 10/19/2011

You have internet access in that cave of yours?

[Stephen Davies]

05:57 PM on 10/17/2011

America wake up,
last week we had the list of the country's who execute the most people , I posted the following comment,

Death Penalty: Countries With The Most Executions In 2010

“OK, NOW LETS TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE LIST,

China,Iran­,North Korea,Yeme­n, *USA* Saudi.Liby­a,Somalia,­Bangladesh ,

USA the only true first world democracy in the list, and with the highest murder rate in the world (17,000) in 2010 I think the world see's the true nature of the USA ,,lets not forget 2 wars that we have started and 8 further country's we have bombed since 2001,”

NOW please visit, http://www.innocenceproject.org/ And maybe think a little !

[jokamachi]

06:29 PM on 10/17/2011

Yup. That's quite a club we're in.

[Shane Ricks]

03:09 PM on 10/18/2011

Murder in the United States for 2010 was 14,748. 46 capital punishment executions in the United States in 2010. Egypt had 185. India had 105. Iraq had 279. Malaysia had 114. Your claims are a little skewed. I'd also like to know your source for "the highest murder rate in the world". In all listings of per capita murder rates I've found the United States is far from having the highest murder rate. So please provide the source for that claim.

Rhetoric and propaganda.

[jokamachi]

11:13 AM on 10/19/2011

Well, I'm not surprised at your reaction. Deathers never accept the numbers or the reality of this argument, even when it's staring them in the face. You whine about how the numbers are slanted even even though the numbers are FACTUAL. Either you're pig-headed or simply too stupid to see that you're wrong, and I'm not going to waste any more time on someone who thinks the U.S. should be in the same club as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, North Korea and China. I've proven my point. Go cry about it to someone who loves death as much as you do..

And yes, the numbers are changing... and you will be in the minority soon enough.

[22Keys]

04:05 PM on 10/17/2011

Spending millions of dollars a year to clothe, house, and feed child rapists and killers is an egregious misallocation of resources.

[Vincent Truman]

11:15 PM on 10/17/2011

So is your argument "it's too expensive - kill them"?

[22Keys]

11:55 AM on 10/18/2011

The allocation of resources is a zero-sum game. As long an one child in this world is without food, clothing, and shelter it is morally indefensible to give those resources to a convicted rapists/killer.

[Shane Ricks]

03:12 PM on 10/18/2011

Well, it's better than the argument of the murderer: "I did it", "I needed drugs", "God told me to", and so on. Giving a criminal the same value as an innocent victim is ridiculous, in my not so humble opinion.

[jestermarcus]

03:46 PM on 10/17/2011

I've always wondered when people bring up the whole "An eye for an eye" argument against capital punishment, what would they say is a suitable punishment for a person who kidnaps and imprisons another person for 20 years in a dark 10x10 cell in their back yard? Wouldn't prison be too similar of a punishment?

[pookeydo]

09:02 PM on 10/18/2011

In the words of Tevia from "Fiddler on The Roof", "the whole world would be blind and toothless”

[Bystander]

03:40 PM on 10/17/2011

61% favor the death penalty. The ayes have it!

[Brandino43]

03:33 PM on 10/17/2011

The question isn't really about whether there are crimes worthy of the death penalty. The question is how to be certain we don't take an innocent life. I think the first, and best step, to a solution for this question begins with our perjury laws. From a biblical perspective, if you intentionally give false information under oath [or for that matter, provide false forensic data] you are subject to the same penalty as the person you testified against. If you commit perjury in a capital punishment case you face capital punishment for your perjury. It raises the stakes for honesty and integrity.

[jestermarcus]

03:44 PM on 10/17/2011

I like it, but we both know it would never fly. People get too soft about things like that.

[Vincent Truman]

11:17 PM on 10/17/2011

From a biblical perspective, you cannot suffer a witch to live, you can sell your daughter and you can have slaves. Exactly what brand of honesty and integrity does this promote?

[Shane Ricks]

03:21 PM on 10/18/2011

In many heathen Germanic laws, the oathhelpers of the defendant would be subject to payment if the defendant should be found guilty of a crime. In other words, they would provide an oath attesting to the innocence, or whatever, of the individual. If the individual proved guilty they must pay, monetarily, for the crime as well.

[Brandino43]

05:43 PM on 10/18/2011

Your lack of understanding of biblical slavery [as described in Leviticus] is common. What is translated as slavery is better translated as bond-servant. Typically, people sold themselves, and their families, into servitude as a means of survival. The servitude was for a fixed period of time, not beyond the sabbatical year. There were strict laws against mistreatment of servants which could include losing ownership. If a servant ran away, they were not to be returned to their master because it was assumed the master was unreasonably harsh or else the servant would have stayed.
Regarding witches, since God is the original law-giver, and God is the most offended by sin, then He also has the right to choose the punishment for sin. Witchcraft at its core was intentionally engaging with evil since it sought relationship with ungodly spirits. Even right intentions, pursued in sinful ways, is sinful.

[mommy dearest]

03:24 PM on 10/17/2011

The death penalty certainly is not a deterrent for crime but, I really feel that child molesters,child rapists/murderers are good candidates so long as there is NO question of guilt.