Interesting new numbers in latest Gallup poll of death penalty public opinions

This new release from the folks at Gallup, which is headlined “In U.S., Support for Death Penalty Falls to 39-Year Low; Fifty-two percent say the death penalty is applied fairly,” reports on the results of the latest public survey on the death penalty. Here are highlights:

Sixty-one percent of Americans approve of using the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, down from 64% last year.  This is the lowest level of support since 1972, the year the Supreme Court voided all existing state death penalty laws in Furman v. Georgia.

Gallup first asked about use of the death penalty in murder cases in 1936.  At that time, 59% of Americans supported it and 38% opposed it. Americans’ views on the death penalty have varied significantly over the 75 years since, including a period from the late 1950s to the early 1970s when less than a majority of Americans favored it.  Support climbed to its highest levels from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, including the all-time high of 80% who favored the death penalty in 1994.  Since then, support has gradually declined; this year’s measure of 61% marks a 19-percentage-point drop over the past 17 years, and a 3-point drop from last year’s measure.

The Oct. 6-9 poll was conducted shortly after the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, which generated widespread protests and extensive news coverage.  This could help explain the slight drop in support for the death penalty this year.  However, there have been high-profile executions in the news in previous years without concomitant drops in death penalty support, making it less clear that such events have a direct impact on attitudes.

This year, 40% of Americans say the death penalty is not imposed often enough, the lowest such percentage since May 2001, when Gallup first asked this question.  Twenty-five percent say the death penalty is used too often, the highest such percentage yet that Gallup has measured.  The rest (27%) say the death penalty is imposed about the right amount….

Support for the death penalty is highly partisan in nature.  Almost three-quarters of Republicans and independents who lean Republican approve, compared with 46% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.  Additionally, men, whites, and those living in the South and Midwest are among those most likely to support the death penalty. Americans younger than age 30 are less likely to support the death penalty than are those who are 30 and older.