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Poll numbers

By Karl R. Keys, Esq.

The latest Harris numbers on the death penalty are now available.  The numbers reflect the sharpest year to year drop in recent memory & the first poll that I recall finding that Americans believe the death penalty is over used. Currently, 63 percent of Americans believe in the death penalty while three in ten (30%) are opposed to it.  Five years ago, almost seven in ten (69%) believed in it while 22 percent were opposed to it. In 1965, when The Harris Poll first started asking this question, just under half of Americans (47%) were opposed to the death penalty while 38 percent believed in it. . . . One question with regard to the death penalty is whether or not it serves as a deterrent to others. Just over half (52%) of Americans believe that executing people who commit murder does not have much effect on deterring others from committing murder...continue to full post

Full post as published by Capital Defense Weekly on March 18, 2008 (boomark / email).