[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA

[Rick Halperin]

October 22



USA:

New Low of 49% in U.S. Say Death Penalty Applied Fairly



The percentage of Americans who believe the death penalty is applied fairly 
continues to decrease, falling below 50% this year for the 1st time. 49 % now 
say the death penalty is applied fairly and 45% say it is applied unfairly.

The 49% who say the death penalty is applied fairly is, by 1 % point, the 
lowest Gallup has measured since it first asked the question in 2000 and 
reflects a gradual decline of this view over the past decade. Meanwhile, the 
percentage who say capital punishment is applied unfairly has edged higher, 
with this year's 4-point gap marking the smallest difference between the 2 
views in Gallup's polling.

These latest data, from Gallup's annual Crime poll, were collected Oct. 1-10 -- 
just before the Washington state Supreme Court on Oct. 11 struck down that 
state's death penalty, saying it had been unequally applied across racial 
groups. In its decision, the court cited evidence that "black defendants were 4 
1/2 times more likely to be sentenced to death than similarly situated white 
defendants." The decision makes Washington the 20th state to outlaw the death 
penalty. Percentage of Democrats Who Say Death Penalty Is Applied Fairly 
Remains Low

The decline in Americans' belief that capital punishment is applied fairly is 
largely the result of a sharp drop in this view among Democrats. 31 % of 
Democrats this year say the death penalty is applied fairly, similar to the low 
of 30% in 2017 but down significantly from 2005 and 2006, when slim majorities 
held this view.

Meanwhile, 73% of Republicans say the death penalty is applied fairly, and the 
percentage holding this view has been fairly stable over time -- typically in 
the low 70s.

More Americans Say the Death Penalty Is Imposed "Too Often"

Americans remain most likely to say the death penalty is not imposed enough 
(37%), while smaller percentages say it is imposed "too often" (29%) or "about 
the right amount" (28%).

While belief that the death penalty is not imposed often enough is still the 
most common view, the latest 37% is down from a high of 53% in 2005 and is by 
one point the lowest reading since 2001.

At the same time, U.S. adults have gradually become more likely to say capital 
punishment is imposed "too often," with the latest 29% slightly higher than in 
previous years.

Small Majority of Americans Continue to Favor Death Penalty

Historically, Americans have been generally supportive of the death penalty as 
the punishment for murder. In all but two polls (in 1965 and 1966), Americans 
have been more likely to say they are in favor of than opposed to use of the 
death penalty. However, support for capital punishment too has been trending 
downward since peaking at 80% in the mid-1990s during a high point in the 
violent crime rate.

Currently, 56% of U.S. adults favor capital punishment -- similar to last 
year's 55%, which marked the lowest level of support for the practice since 
1972, when the constitutionality of the death penalty was being challenged.

Bottom Line

Washington is the latest in a string of states that have outlawed the death 
penalty over the past decade. While courts sometimes drive abolishment, as was 
the case in Washington, most abolition of the death penalty in recent years has 
taken place via legislation by state lawmakers and governors, who are beholden 
to voters and public opinion. So, if public support for capital punishment 
continues to wane, it's not unfathomable that other states could follow suit.

Some Americans' views on the subject may have been influenced by stories of 
people sentenced to death who were later found to be innocent. In a 2014 poll, 
Gallup found that about 1 in 6 people who were opposed to the death penalty 
said they were against it out of concern that the defendants might actually be 
innocent. Other news stories, such as a case in Alabama earlier this year 
involving a botched execution, may have influenced opinions on the issue.

Future support for the death penalty may depend partly on whether crime 
continues to decrease, because support for capital punishment peaked along with 
U.S. violent crime statistics, and as crime statistics declined thereafter, so 
did support for capital punishment.

Meanwhile, as executions in the U.S. have decreased along with the generally 
sinking crime rate, Americans have become more likely to say capital punishment 
is unfairly applied and that it is imposed too frequently. But this appears to 
have been driven mostly by shifts in Democrats' views on the subject -- with 
blue states far more likely to have abolished the death penalty.

(source: gallup.com)