USA - Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty at Lowest Level Since 1972

Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty at Lowest Level Since 1972. Support for the death penalty in the United States is at its lowest level since November 1972, according to a Gallup poll released October 25. Gallup reported that 60% of respondents said they support capital punishment—off one percentage point from last year—while opposition remained at 37%, matching its highest level since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty in 1972. Support has dropped 9 points since 2007 and 20 points since its peak in 1994. Gallup's poll this year included a question on the perceived fairness of capital punishment. 50% of respondents believe the death penalty is applied fairly, the lowest level in the question's 17-year history, and 44% believe it is applied unfairly, the highest level in 17 years. Gallup did not include information on levels of support for the death penalty by age, race, sex, religion, or political affiliation as part of its statement on the 2016 poll and did not ask respondents which punishment they found more appropriate for murder: the death penalty or life without parole. Polling this year in California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma indicates that, when asked that policy question, more Americans favor life without parole over the death penalty. Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 5-9, 2016, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.