The Public Police Polling death penalty survey results are available in Adobe .pdf format.
"Poll: Majority in NC Supports Ending Death Penalty," is by Stephanie Carroll Carson of North Carolina Public News Service. There is audio at the link.
North Carolina support ending the death penalty in the state, according to a poll released this week. Of the 600 people polled, 68 percent said they would rather the state replace capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to Dustin Ingalls, assistant director of Public Policy Polling, the organization that conducted the poll, public opinion appears to be shifting.
"More and more, support for death penalty is decreasing, and that sort of falls in line with opposition on other social issues," he said.
Support for abolishing the death penalty crosses party lines, according to the poll, with even a majority of conservative respondents in favor of ending capital punishment. Another poll result: people said they would rather see the money used to put people to death spent on crime prevention instead.
Tye Hunter, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, said that, while public opinion seems to be shifting, it may take a while for that shift to be reflected in the legislature.
The Charlotte Post reports, "Poll: N.C. residents reject death penalty." It's written by Herbert L. White.
North Carolinians would rather have convicted killers pay restitution to their victims’ families if they spend the rest of their lives behind bars, according to a new poll.
A survey by Public Policy Polling found 68 percent of North Carolina residents support replacing the death penalty with life in prison without parole, if offenders are required to work and pay restitution to the families of their victims. A majority of respondents who identified themselves as politically conservative said they favor ending the death penalty and redirecting dollars spent on it to helping victims.
And:
Public Policy Polling surveyed 600 North Carolinians by telephone between Feb. 7-10. Forty-four percent of respondents identified themselves as conservative while 26 percent identified as liberal. The remainder called themselves moderates. The poll revealed:
• 68 percent supported ending the death penalty so defendants could work and pay restitution.
• 63 percent supported ending the death penalty if the money now spent on capital punishment was redirected to crime fighting.
• 55 percent supported ending the death penalty if the money was redirected to solving cold cases and assisting victims
Among conservatives, support for abolishing capital punishment was strongest if offenders were required to pay restitution. Sixty-five percent of those who called themselves “somewhat conservative” and 50 percent of those who were “very conservative” supported switching to life in prison without parole.
“The days when the death penalty enjoyed near-universal support are clearly over. Across the country, poll after poll has shown that,” said Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling. “These results show that people in North Carolina are willing to consider alternatives to capital punishment.”
Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link. Related posts are in the public opinion polling category index.
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