USA - Delaware. A new poll indicates 50 percent of Delawareans favor passage of a bill repealing the State’s death penalty

A new poll indicates 50 percent of Delawareans favor passage of a bill repealing the State’s death penalty - with 32 percent strongly in favor of the bill and 18 percent somewhat in favor. 63 % of people in Delaware initially support the death penalty, but its support decreases when alternatives are given. About 34 % of people polled either strongly opposed or somewhat opposed the death penalty, but a follow up question found that people favor life imprisonment over the death penalty. "A significant majority of Delaware residents, 64 %, support some form of life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty," Eugene Young, advocacy director at the Delaware Center for Justice, said. "This issue has lingered in the ether for far too long," Democratic Rep. Sean Lynn said. "The death penalty is morally bankrupt, legally bankrupt and it is intellectually bankrupt." The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling , was commissioned by the Delaware Center for Justice. The poll also showed 16 percent are somewhat opposed to the repeal bill, 28 percent are strongly opposed and 6 percent are undecided. Public Policy Polling conducted from April 12 to 14, speaking with 573 voters. It has a 4-point-one percent margin of error. Public Policy Polling’s Jim Williams offered a breakdown of poll’s sample numbers. “This poll had 48 percent Democrats, 30 percent Republicans, 23 percent Independents. 69 percent white voters, 22 percent African American, 9 percent other,” said Williams. Last month, the state Senate passed legislation to repeal Delaware’s death penalty by an 11-9 margin, with one senator absent. It now heads to the House where similar legislation stalled last session. Police groups strongly oppose repeal and will likely step up opposition. House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf (D) is a former state trooper and has said he will not vote for repeal without amendments allowing the death penalty for those who kill police or corrections officers. Delaware is one of 32 states that currently employs capital punishment. It’s last execution was of convicted murderer Shannon Johnson in 2012.