Americans' Support for the Death Penalty in Perspective
Gallup has tracked Americans' views on the death penalty since 1937. How and why has this support or opposition changed over time? What percentage of Americans currently support using capital punishment? And what reasons do supporters of the death penalty give for why they support it? Sandra Babcock, clinical professor at Cornell Law School and a lawyer who specializes in human rights and the death penalty, shares her perspective based on decades of involvement in death penalty litigation. Later, what percentage of Americans say that they or someone in their family will be denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition?
Americans who favor the death penalty cite "an eye for an eye" as their chief reason for holding this belief. Americans who oppose the death penalty cite that it is "wrong to take a life" as their top reason.
Sixty percent of Americans say the death penalty is morally acceptable, down from a peak of 71% in 2006. Americans in the South and GOP supporters find it most acceptable.
Americans have become more liberal on many moral and values issues over the past quarter century, but with some signs of a leveling off in recent years.
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