First, a disclaimer. This polling is at considerable odds with the most recent Gallup Poll, released earlier this week, by a degree well beyond the margin of error. Indeed, even the Scripps-Howard Texas Poll was not showing this level of support for capital punishment in Texas during its final polls in 2000-2004. I'm highly skeptical of the results given the results available in extensive polling from other sources.
"Americans Support Punishing Murder with the Death Penalty," is the Angus Reid release.
Four-in-five respondents believe innocent people have been executed in the United States.
Most Americans support the death penalty in murder cases, but are divided on whether it acts as a deterrent for potential criminals, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of a representative sample of 1,006 American adults also finds that a high proportion of respondents believe that innocent people have been executed in the United States.
Across the country, 83 per cent of respondents support punishing homicide with the death penalty, while 13 per cent are opposed. A majority of Americans would also rely on capital punishment to punish rape (62%) and kidnapping (51%), but not armed robbery (40%).
Respondents are evenly split on the overall effect of the death penalty. While 39 per cent of Americans think capital punishment acts as a deterrent, 35 per cent disagree. Republicans (52%) are more likely to believe that the death penalty deters potential criminals than Independents (40%) and Democrats (34%).
UPI posts, "80 percent in U.S. back death penalty."
While 83 percent in the United States support the death penalty for murder, 81 percent say innocent people likely have been executed, a poll indicated Tuesday.
Angus Reid Public Opinion reported the public is split on whether the threat of execution is a deterrent, with 39 percent agreeing and 35 percent saying no. Only 6 percent believe no innocent person has been put to death.
There were some regional and partisan differences with southerners slightly less likely to support the death penalty than others and independents less likely than either Democrats or Republicans.
A second disclaimer; more than 80% of all America's executions occur in the American South, and other polling has consitently shown higher levels of support in the South than in other regions of the country.
Related posts are in the public opinion polling index.
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