Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Over Three in Five Americans Believe in Death Penalty

95 percent believe that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder, while 52 percent don't believe that the death penalty is a deterrent. 63 percent support capital punishment.

read more | digg story

This latest poll is consistent with other polls, and reveals that public support for the death penalty continues to decline. While the opinion poll continues the traditional question of do you favor or oppose the death penalty, other polls have revealed lower support when respondents are given the same choice faced by capital jurors - death sentence versus life in prison without parole.

The other interesting aspect of this survey is the high percentage of respondents who believe innocent people are convicted of murder, and that as many as 12 out of every individuals convicted of murder may be innocent.

Executing innocent people is collateral damage in the war on crime? Seems like a high price to pay for an ill-defined notion of justice.

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