Max Sawicky wrote:
>Not necessarily, Jimbo. The DP is not much less
>popular than ever.
<http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr000224.asp>
POLL RELEASES
February 24, 2000
Support for Death Penalty Drops to Lowest Level in 19 Years, Although
Still High at 66%
Widespread agreement, even among those who favor it, that innocent
people sometimes get death penalty
by Frank Newport
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Although a significant majority of Americans still
favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, the
percentage has been gradually decreasing over time since its high
point in 1994, and is now -- at 66% -- at its lowest level since
1981. A new Gallup poll also shows that even those who favor the
death penalty agree that innocent people at least occasionally are
given the death sentence in error. Additionally, when given an
explicit alternative to the death penalty -- life imprisonment with
no chance for parole -- the percentage of Americans favoring the
death penalty drops, but is still above 50%.
Support for the death penalty has varied significantly over the
years, to some degree coinciding with its legality within the United
States and the frequency with which it has been imposed. In 1953, 68%
favored the death penalty, a number that dropped to as low as 42% in
the mid-1960s. In 1978, a year after capital punishment resumed after
a number of years in which there were no executions in the United
States, 62% of Americans supported the death penalty. That support
rose consistently through the 1980s before peaking in 1994, when, as
noted, 80% of Americans favored the death penalty in murder cases.
Since then, the number has gradually fallen back to the current 66%
favor, 28% opposed measured in Gallup's February 14-15 survey.
[...]
