USA - Utah. Poll: Slim Majority of Utahns Support the Death Penalty.

Poll: Slim Majority of Utahns Support the Death Penalty. That's from a new UtahPolicy.com survey conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. 52% say the death penalty is the proper punishment for heinous crimes like murder. A little more than 1/3 of Utahns (35%) say such offenses should be punished by life in prison without parole. 8% stated that they didn't know. Not surprisingly, Republicans in Utah are solidly for the death penalty, while Democrats and independent voters are split on the issue. 63% of Republicans support capital punishment for severe crimes while 25% say life in prison is the proper punishment. Only 30% of Democrats favor the death penalty. 47% of independents support capital punishment while 39% say life in prison is the proper sentence. There is a clear gender gap on the issue, with men definitely for the death penalty while women are divided. 61% of men think capital punishment is right while 44% of women agree. Just 30% of men favor life in prison compared to 39% of women. Support for the death penalty in Utah has softened significantly in the past two months. A December UtahPolicy.com survey found 67% of Utahns supported capital punishment in Utah while 26% wanted the state to move to life without parole in those cases. The survey was conducted from February 10-15, 2016 among 625 adult Utahns. They were contacted via telephone, both landline and cell phones, and through an online panel. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.92%.