USA - A new Rasmussen poll found that 57% of American adults support the death penalty

A new Rasmussen poll found that 57% of American adults support the death penalty, down from 63% in the organization's polls dating from 2009. The national telephone survey of 800 American adults found that 57 % favor the death penalty. Just 26 % are opposed, while 17 % are undecided. These findings are little changed from surveys over the past 2 years. Support for capital punishment hit a high of 67 % in July 2012, shortly after the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. Before that, support had stayed in a narrow range of 60 % to 63 % since November 2009. Respondents were also asked whether they favored the death penalty for James Holmes if he is convicted of the July 20, 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Just 55% said they believed Holmes should be sentenced to death, compared to 66% who held that view immediately after the shooting in 2012. Twenty percent were undecided. Rasmussen found that Americans were less supportive of executing a defendant who is mentally ill, an issue in Holmes's case. Americans remain divided as to whether the death penalty deters crime: 42 % say it does, while 41 % disagree. Another 16 % are not sure. Most (75 %) also remain at least somewhat concerned that some people may be executed for crimes they didn't commit. Just 23 % do not share that concern. This includes 39 % who are very concerned that some people may be wrongly executed and 4 % who are not at all concerned. These findings, too, have changed little since 2009. 27 % of Americans know their state has banned the death penalty, while 46 % say their state has not done so. 27 % aren't aware whether their state has banned capital punishment or not, though that's down slightly from 30 % last year. 18 states and Washington, D.C. have abolished the death penalty.