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19 August 2021

Public Opinion About The Death Penalty

I suspect that there are also deep regional and demographic differences in death penalty support.
About a fifth of American voters oppose the death penalty in nearly every circumstance: These appear to be the truly committed opponents. About three fifths reliably support the death penalty: they favor it in theory and also want to have a death penalty law in their state. A final fifth of the American electorate approves of the death penalty in some way, in theory, but does not necessarily want the death penalty in their state.

1 comment:

  1. My feelings about this have changed as I've gotten older. I find the argument that Europeans got smarter partially through unrelenting application of the death penalty for violent crimes convincing. Accordingly, I have shifted to thinking the same rules should apply here in Europe and its fraternal peers/descendant societies. In particular it may help some groups who seem to be afflicted by significantly lower averages for intelligence, at the risk of looking like a genocide. At the same time, I also think that from an ethical perspective, taking someone's life is far more just than placing them into an artfully re-articulated form of slavery. There's more dignity in being executed than involuntarily worked like a dog for years with little to no pay, with rates of recidivism often guaranteeing your return.

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