Do Americans Really Support the Death Penalty?

Homer Simpson put it best: “People can come up with statistics to prove any point. Fourteen percent of people know that.” Lately, we have good reason to heed his sage wisdom as a new round of death penalty polls, with an accompanying round of superficial analysis, is distorting public perceptions of the death penalty.

On November 8, Gallup released their annual death penalty poll followed by the release of a similar poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion the next day, both of which sparked headlines across the country about how much Americans seemingly support capital punishment: Gallup says 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty, while Angus Reid cranks that number all the way up to 83 percent.

But support for the death penalty drops when respondents are asked to consider alternatives – and it drops a lot depending on which one is presented. Gallup asks about the death penalty every year, but occasionally they also ask if people prefer the death penalty over “life imprisonment, with absolutely no possibility of parole.” This year, when given the alternative of life without parole, support for the death penalty falls from 64 percent to 49 percent – just 3 percent higher than those who prefer the alternative, within the margin of error. The last time Gallup asked about the alternative of life without parole was 2006, and at that time support for permanent imprisonment was actually higher than support for the death penalty, again within the margin of error.

In California, the alternative is life without parole accompanied by work, with one's pay contributing to a Victims’ Compensation Fund. Of course, work and restitution have never been mentioned in the Gallup poll asking about alternatives.  Only one poll asking about restitution was conducted in 2001 by Peter Hart Associates, which found preference for the death penalty at 38 percent, well below support for the alternative. I don’t know of any polls that mention that this alternative is already state law in California.

In the Angus Reid poll, respondents were never presented with alternatives to the death penalty. A stunning 81 percent of respondents, however, believe that innocent people have been executed, and only 39 percent agreed that the death penalty deters murder.

The truth is that despite the “hang ‘em high” headlines, these polls reveal a deep ambivalence toward the death penalty. Though some people believe in execution, many also recognize that the system is broken, that innocents can be put to death, that death doesn’t deter crime, and that other forms of punishment restore the balance of justice much more effectively by providing victims with restitution instead of retribution.

And not once do these polls mention that the death penalty is vastly more expensive than alternatives that would allow for more resources to be spent on restitution, unsolved murder investigations and crime prevention.

Nonetheless, we can expect prosecutors who pursue the death penalty (most don’t, by the way) to continue to rely on misleading headlines and a light reading of polls to bolster their position. Shallow analysis conveniently helps to perpetuate the myth that Americans want the death penalty despite its cost, its risks and the available alternatives. Elected officials like America’s top advocate for death sentencing, District Attorney Steve Cooley from Los Angeles, for example, often claim that they have broad community support for their expensive and reckless pursuit of the death penalty. But the ultimate punishment always deserves careful consideration and polls that tackle this weighty topic call for a second look.

Take action now and tell Steve Cooley to stop death sentencing in LA County and curb this reckless trend in America’s capital punishment capital.

Photo Credit: kevinzhengli