63 % of North Carolinians support a temporary suspension...

63 % of North Carolinians support a temporary suspension of executions while the state's capital punishment system is studied, according to a major statewide public opinion poll released today by the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium. The poll was commissioned by NCCM and conducted by Doble Research Associates, a nonpartisan, national consulting firm. The poll found that North Carolinians support a moratorium on executions in North Carolina by a margin of more than 2 to 1, with 63% in favor and 28% opposed. 56 % said that North Carolina definitely or probably has executed an innocent person in the last 20 years. A majority of citizens favors the death penalty. 59 % polled said they support the death penalty, while 27% said they oppose it. Only 47% of those polled said they believed "life without parole" means life. In 1994 a law was enacted in North Carolina making life without the possibility of parole the only alternative to a death sentence for capital murder. When given the option of true life without parole, respondents' support for the death penalty dropped to 33%, with 43% favoring a life sentence. When given the option of life without parole and the offender working in prison to pay restitution to the victim's family, support for the death penalty dropped even further, to 26%, with support for a life sentence plus restitution at 64%. The poll was a telephone survey of 818 randomly sampled adult residents of North Carolina. The calls were made between April 13 and April 21, 2004. The margin of error is 3.4%. The State Senate passed a moratorium bill last spring and the House is considering the bill this session.