Most Americans support life in prison over death penalty for first time, new poll shows
A majority of Americans still support having the death penalty as an option, but increasingly see it as a second-best choice
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Your support makes all the difference.More and more Americans say that life in prison is a preferable punishment for murder to the death penalty, according to a new poll showing a sharp shift over the past few years.
The poll, conducted by Gallup, found that a majority of Americans still support capital punishment as an option, but showed for the first time that they are more likely to back life sentences in murder cases.
Six in 10 people said they would choose life in prison without the possibility of parole as a punishment over the death penalty. That’s compared to 36 per cent who chose the death penalty, and 4 per cent who said they have no opinion.
The results come at a moment of declining executions across the United States, with several states getting rid of the measure in recent years as opponents have pointed to wrongful convictions and the high cost of death penalty proceedings as reasons to be wary.
Still, supporters of the measure in the United States argue that the ultimate punishment is a deterrent for the most violent crimes, and that the government owes it to the family of victims to carry out death sentences.
Gallup has been polling Americans to determine their thoughts on the issue for decades, and support for the measure has dropped since it reached a high in 1995, at 80 per cent approval.
A total of 56 per cent support the measure now, down from 63 per cent who supported it five years ago.
Twenty prisoners have been executed in the US in 2019 in seven states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit information organisation. Texas has executed eight, the most of any state.
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