Poll: Public Ambivalent About Death Penalty

May 2 -- The pending execution of Timothy McVeigh comes at a time of deep and growing ambivalence about the death penalty, to the point that bare majorities of Americans favor a moratorium on executions — or even a law replacing them with mandatory life in prison.

Most people, 63 percent, support the death penalty when no other option is presented. But that's down from a high of 80 percent seven years ago, and it's weakly held: Support for executions drops to 46 percent when life without parole is offered as an alternative.

While support for the death penalty is widely known, polls less frequently delve into the public's ambivalence about it, and the support for alternatives. One reason for these views is a growing sense that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to murder; a majority now holds this view, up 20 points in the last 15 years.

This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll finds broad agreement with two other arguments against the death penalty: That it's applied unfairly across jurisdictions, and that innocent people are sometimes executed. And the strongest argument in favor — that it prevents killers from killing again — is also achieved by life in prison without parole.

Life

Given these views, 51 percent of Americans say they'd support a law replacing the death penalty with mandatory life; 46 percent would oppose such legislation. Equal numbers would support it "strongly" as oppose it strongly — about a quarter on each side.

Fifty-one percent also say they'd support a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty while a commission studies whether it's been administered fairly. And when people are told that such a moratorium currently exists in Illinois, support for a national moratorium advances to 57 percent.

Pro and Con

There are persuasive arguments for the death penalty as well as against it in the public's mind, which fuels the public's ambivalence about it.

Strongest is that it prevents the killer from killing again: Seventy-two percent of Americans agree with this as an argument in favor of executions, and 48 percent agree strongly. As noted, life without parole presumably accomplishes the same goal, which likely is one reason it's an acceptable alternative to many people.