The Death Penalty : A Multi Level Analysis Of Public Opinion

Capital punishment has been a controversial issue that still exists in America today. Capital punishment is a law passed by the government to punish any individual that has been convicted of committed a heinous crime. The death penalty has been a method used throughout history as punishment for criminals. The punishment also known as the death penalty is a scheduled execution, which would be done with lethal injection. The reason why this punishment is chosen is because when crimes are committed that shock the conscience, the immediate emotional reaction is to retaliate with severe punishment (Schnurbush 2016). The death penalty is debated when it is brought up, opinions vary from one group of people to another, one side says the execution is murder, and the other saying that it is justice being done. Each side presents valid arguments to why people should be for it or against it; people’s opinions are formed by personal beliefs.

The death penalty is the ultimate expression of state power. Although there are laws placed to maintain equal justice among each state, these laws are enforced by human of some race. The significant relationship between race and public support for the death penalty has been questioned for years. When doing research, act of using the death penalty has been racially inflected among whites and blacks throughout history. This was due to racism. However, the promise of equality in America has struck society into believing race is invisible. It is important for people interested in the sociology or psychology of death and dying to understand race matters when discussing the support for the death penalty. They are informed about the social problem

Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, has been a part of the United State’s justice system for the majority of the country’s existence. Today, 31 out of the 50 states still recognize the death penalty as a viable option when dealing with high profile crimes, most notably murder and sexual assault. While many people argue that the death penalty should be made illegal, there is also widespread support in favor of keeping the death penalty, leaving the nation divided on the issue. Both sides of the argument possess valid evidence that supports their claims, but in the end, the arguments in favor of the death penalty are noticeably stronger. The death penalty is an appropriate sentence that should continue to be allowed in the

Frank Newport of Gallup News Service did a study on the public’s opinion of the death penalty and 69 percent replied with “yes” when asked if they were in favor the death penalty (Newport, 2007). His report also states that every year since 2001 when he polled the question “Is the death penalty morally acceptable?” the majority of the public has responded with “yes” (Newport, 2007). According to Newport’s study, most men (76%), women (62%), republicans (81%), democrats (60%), whites (73%) and non-whites (55%) are “in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder” (Newport, 2007). This study supports the fact that the majority of society agrees that the death penalty is a just and fair way to punish convicted murderers.

The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.

This study aims to examine the public’s opinion of reintroducing capital punishments. (Gannon.A.T, Wood.J, 2013, P.33) state that the motivation behind why public opinion is important because in society we “elect officials to represent us and, as

In 1972, at the time of Supreme Court’s Furman, the majority of public tends to agree with the death penalty. The major reason for support of the death penalty was the serious violent offenders need to be executed in the interest of public safety. However, according to a Gallup poll, supporter for the death penalty dropped from 76 to 53, public started to against the death penalty. Since then, the world has the trend toward of abolishing the death penalty.

The topic of death penalty is highly controversial and debated on in American society. The death penalty has put many convicted murderers and criminals on the government. Using death sentence as a punishment for extreme crimes portrays America in a negative way. Although the death penalty brings justice to violent criminals, I argue that the death penalty is immoral and financially crippling the United States.

Then two decades later, in 1993, the capital punishment statutes had been reinstated and performing executions, once again striking the thing criminals fear most, death (Tucker). During the 1990s as more states began to reinstate capital punishment statutes, murder rates began to plummet. They went from 9.6 people per 100,000 in 1993 dropping to 7.7 in 1996 and as low as 6.4 in 1999, which was the lowest rate since 1966. In other words, as the author observed during his study of the forty year period, homicide rates have risen when the rate of execution went down and as the execution rates had risen, the rate of homicides had decreased (Tucker). Not only does the death penalty engender an aversion amongst criminals and people who are considering performing heinous actions, it additionally promotes a positive influence towards themselves and others around. The mandate of capital punishment establishes the attitude of abhorrence toward criminals, and causes people to think about what they are doing because of the possible consequences. With people believing that living the criminal life is not the best of decisions, they are deterred away from making the decision of performing the crime (Caldwell 598).

The public opinion within the United States on capital punishment has fluctuated since its early establishment during the colonial era. The debate about the use of capital punishment has been shaped by factors such as class, gender, age but most importantly race.

Death Penalty should be allowed under circumstances also known as capital punishment, where congress or any state legislature recommend the death penalty for murder and other capital crimes. Majority of the states are favor in death penalty, roughly around 32 states are favor and 18 states are against death penalty. In most cases, many argue that death penalty has violated the 8th amendment, where it bans cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore, they would go against death penalty. However, without the sentence to death, the chances of prisoner escaping prison are really high. If they are able to escape prison and get away with it, then they can continue committing crimes. Although some may argue that death penalty is harsh because if you kill someone; and then you take another person’s life, then why should yours be freed? I personally do not agree with death penalty because taking away another person’s life is not going to regain the victim’s life back. However, the victim’s family would want the person to be sentence to death, so the victim can rest in peace. I think that death penalty should be only allowed under circumstances, but then how can you really determined if the case should be ruled with death penalty? And how would the justice system know that they have made the correct decision? Did the decision of sentence to death turn out to be wrong, where the person is later found innocent? There are multiple of questions that people will be more concern about. The

The death penalty is a controversial issue because it involves a dispute between sides which hold opposing views. Those who support the death penalty believe that it deters criminals and makes them think twice. Some supporters claim that it is morally right and gives victims justice. Furthermore, supporters of the death penalty think that it is the only way to fully protect society.According to “Solid Majority Continue to Support Death Penalty” ”About six in ten americans favor the use of death penalty for a person convicted of murder”(Solid 2016). On the other hand those who oppose death penalty think that the cost outweighs the benefits. They also argue that the death penalty can be faulty at times. Opponents argue that the death penalty

The survey provides the information of how the relationship between gender, religion, ethnicity, and political ideology relate to their approval or disapproval of the death penalty. The two variables that are important to the survey in the Gallup study, is political ideology and political affiliation. The Gallup study has shown that seventy four percent of conservatives are in favor of the death penalty, 68% of moderates are for the death penalty, and 54% of liberals are in favor of the death penalty. The Gallup study has also shown that 80% of republicans are for the death penalty, 65% of independents are in favor of the death penalty, and 58% of democrats are in favor of the death penalty. Based on the Gallup study I believe that conservatives will have the highest percentage of members in favor of the death penalty when political ideology is tested. Also, that republicans will have the highest percentage of members in favor of the death penalty when political affiliation is

In this paper, the authors examine how the death penalty argument has changed in the last 25 years in the United States. They examine six specific issues: deterrence, incapacitation, caprice and bias, cost innocence and retribution; and how public opinion has change regarding these issues. They argue that social science research is changing the way Americans view the death penalty and suggest that Americans are moving toward an eventual abolition of the death penalty.

Some difficulties in trying to determine what the public’s view is on the death penalty are that the questions asked on polls are different. Also they way the questions are phrased are asked differently on different polls and also during different time periods. People aren't very well informed so instead of really forming an opinion there just choosing a side. These make it difficult to determine the view because there are so many flaws in the way it’s administered and the public is ignorant to many facts dealing with the death penalty.