More than two out of three Americans support the death penalty in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, which is about the same level of support they have shown for the death penalty for serious crimes over time. Those who favor death penalty do so despite the fact that many of them think innocent people have been executed in the last five years.
There are reasons Americans support the death penalty. And many would like to see it used more frequently. Of those who don’t oppose it, most believe it isn’t used often enough. Just 7% say it is used too often. And many supporters see few exceptions, although a majority would execute women and first time offenders, 58% would not execute the mentally retarded, and there is an even division on executing the mentally ill.
And there is the issue of deterrence. Although the country divides on whether the death penalty deters other people from committing murder (in fact, more say it doesn’t act as a deterrent than say it does), supporters of the death penalty see it as a deterrent by 53% to 32%.
Do you think that executing murderers deters others from committing murder?
| Total | Death penaltysupporters | Death penaltyopponents | |
|---|---|---|---|
Yes | 39% | 53% | 7% |
No | 47% | 32% | 88% |
Not sure | 14% | 15% | 5% |
Americans overall – and especially death penalty supporters – don’t think the penalty is unfairly applied: that it is disproportionately applied to racial minorities. Americans overall disagree 49% to 29%; supporters of the death penalty disagree by an even greater margin, 61% to 23%. However, a majority of African-Americans believe the penalty IS disproportionately applied to racial minorities.
But even many of those who favor the death penalty agree it can be misapplied – and that innocent people have been executed. Overall, 54% of Americans believe there have been some improper executions in the last few years. Those who favor the death penalty agree, 45% to 23%.
Do you think that any innocent persons have been executed in the U.S. during the last five years?
| Total | Death penaltysupporters | Death penaltyopponents | |
|---|---|---|---|
Yes | 54% | 45% | 79% |
No | 17% | 23% | 5% |
Not sure | 29% | 32% | 16% |
Who favors the death penalty? There is much more support for the punishment among older adults than younger ones, among men more than women, in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest, and among Republicans more than Democrats. And despite the perception among African-Americans that the punishment is disproportionately applied to minorities, there is only a small difference in the opinions of whites and blacks on the question.
Do you favor the death penalty for serious crimes such as murder and rape?
| Party ID | Race | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Strongly favor | 38% | 27% | 57% | 35% | 38% | 36% | 34% |
Favor | 30% | 30% | 31% | 30% | 31% | 28% | 18% |
Oppose | 14% | 20% | 5% | 12% | 13% | 12% | 23% |
Strongly oppose | 9% | 13% | 2% | 13% | 9% | 9% | 10% |
Not sure | 10% | 11% | 5% | 10% | 8% | 16% | 14% |
|
| ||||||
| |||||||
Strongly favor | 38% | 20% | 43% | 39% | 43% | 33% | |
Favor | 30% | 32% | 27% | 35% | 30% | 29% | |
Oppose | 14% | 22% | 12% | 8% | 13% | 14% | |
Strongly oppose | 9% | 15% | 5% | 15% | 8% | 10% | |
Not sure | 10% | 11% | 11% | 3% | 5% | 14% | |
|
| ||||||
| |||||||
Strongly favor | 38% | 30% | 29% | 47% | 38% | ||
Favor | 30% | 30% | 31% | 27% | 33% | ||
Oppose | 14% | 17% | 16% | 11% | 13% | ||
Strongly oppose | 9% | 11% | 16% | 6% | 6% | ||
Not sure | 10% | 12% | 9% | 9% | 9% | ||
