Death Penalty

Here’s a closer look at public opinion on the death penalty, as well as key facts about the nation’s use of capital punishment.

Roughly two-thirds of atheists (65%) and six-in-ten agnostics (57%) either “strongly” or “somewhat” oppose the death penalty.

The difference in support for the death penalty by survey mode has important consequences for understanding trends on the issue.

Nearly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (78%) say there is some risk an innocent person will be put to death, and 63% say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes.

Only two other presidents since 1900 – George W. and George H.W. Bush – granted fewer acts of clemency than Trump.

More than a third of the states that allow executions haven’t carried one out in at least 10 years or, in some cases, much longer.

Ahead of the Senate’s deliberations over Kavanaugh, here’s a look at where the public stands on some of the major legal, political and social issues that could come before the Supreme Court in the years ahead.

Public support for the death penalty, which reached a four-decade low in 2016, has increased somewhat since then. Since 2016, opinions among Republicans and Democrats have changed little, but the share of independents favoring the death penalty has increased 8 percentage points.

Just five states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas – accounted for all 20 executions in the U.S. in 2016.

The share of Americans who support the death penalty for persons convicted of murder is now at its lowest point in more than four decades.