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PRESS RELEASE |
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PRESS RELEASE |
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Release Date: May 16, 2005
Contact: Michael Rushford
(916) 446-0345 |
POLLS REPORT PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY STEADY TO RISINGA public opinion poll released today by the Gallup Organization, and another poll conducted by TNS/Washington Post/ABC News in late April, indicate that American support for the death penalty has remained steady or risen significantly in recent years. The Gallup poll was based upon telephone interviews with 1,005 adults (over 18) and compared the responses from similar questions over the past five years. It reported that those who said the death penalty is morally acceptable increased from 63% in 2001 to 70% this year. The TNS/Washington Post/ABC News poll, conducted in April, asked 1007 adults "Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?" The poll has asked the same question over the past three years. This poll showed that support for the death penalty has remained constant at 65% since 2002. "Over the past several months it has been widely reported that public support for the death penalty has been declining. These polls appear to disprove that claim," said Michael Rushford, President of the California-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which supports the death penalty. The Foundation cites a recent report from the Death Penalty Information Center which claimed that a drop in executions since 2000 was evidence that public support was declining. "The fact that there have been nearly 27,000 fewer murders over the past five years is probably the main reason we have seen fewer death sentences," said Rushford. "This decline in murder is consistent with findings in a growing number of studies that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder," he added.
CJLF President Michael Rushford is available for
comment at (916) 446-0345. |