More Than Two-Thirds of Americans Continue to Support the Death Penalty, According to New Harris Poll Results They support it even though only a minority thinks it is a deterrent and almost everyone believes that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Support for the death penalty remains very strong in the United States, even though almost everyone believes that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder, and only a minority believes it is a deterrent. The last few years have seen many reports of people being released from prison after DNA tests showed they were innocent of murders or rapes for which they had been wrongly convicted many years before. The state of Illinois has imposed a moratorium on capital punishment. But a large 69% to 22% majority of the public still favors capital punishment and this majority is actually somewhat higher than it was in 2001 and in 2000 (when it had fallen to 64% to 25%). This majority support for the death penalty holds even though almost everyone (95%) believes that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder. On average they believe that 11% of all those convicted are innocent. But the two-thirds of the public who support the death penalty seem to feel that that is an acceptable price to pay. Certainly, there are some inconsistencies in public attitudes toward the death penalty, as there are on many issues. Only just over one third of the public (37%) say, when asked, that they would still support the death penalty if they believed "that quite a substantial number of innocent people are convicted of murder" and about half (47%) say they would oppose it. But if 11% are wrongly convicted, is that not "substantial"? Based on this and other polls, it seems very unlikely that a majority of Americans will actually oppose capital punishment any time soon, leaving the United States as the only western democracy which executes murderers. These are some results of The Harris Poll(R) of 993 adults, surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive(R) between December 10 and 16, 2003. Other interesting results of this poll are: * Only 41% of all adults believe that the death penalty deters people from committing murder -- the smallest number from among all of The Harris Polls that asked this question in the last 27 years. * A 36% plurality would still like to see an increase in the number of executions (versus 21% who favor a decrease, and 33% no change). * African Americans believe that, on average, 23% of murder convictions are of innocent people, compared to 9% among whites and 16% among Hispanics. TABLE 1 BELIEVE IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT "Do you believe in capital punishment, that is the death penalty, or are you opposed to it?" Base: All Adults Dec 1965 1969 1970 1973 1976 1983 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 % % % % % % % % % % % Believe in it 38 48 47 59 67 68 75 71 64 67 69 Opposed to it 47 38 42 31 25 27 22 21 25 26 22 Not sure/Refused 15 14 11 10 8 5 3 8 11 7 9 TABLE 2 IS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT A DETERRENT? "Do you feel that executing people who commit murder deters others from committing murder, or do you think such executions don't have much effect?" Base: All Adults Dec 1976 1983 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 % % % % % % % Deters others 59 63 49 47 44 42 41 Not much effect 34 32 49 49 50 52 53 Not sure/Refused 7 5 2 4 7 7 6 TABLE 3 FAVOR INCREASE/DECREASE IN NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS "In general, would you like to see an increase or decrease in the number of convicted criminals who are executed, or no change?" Base: All Adults Dec 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 % % % % % Increase 53 43 36 35 36 Decrease 14 21 22 26 21 No change 27 28 31 30 33 Don't know/Refused 6 7 11 8 11 TABLE 4 ARE INNOCENT PEOPLE SOMETIMES CONVICTED OF MURDER? "Do you think that innocent people are sometimes convicted of murder or that this never happens?" Base: All Adults Dec 1999 2000 2001 2003 % % % % Sometimes happens 95 94 94 95 Never happens 3 5 3 4 Don't know/Refused 1 1 3 2 TABLE 5 WHAT PERCENT OF PEOPLE CONVICTED OF MURDER ARE INNOCENT? (Mean, or average, responses) "For every one hundred people convicted of murder, how many would you guess are actually innocent?" Base: Believe innocent people sometimes convicted of murder (95%) December 1999 2000 2001 2003 All Adults 11 % 13 % 12 % 11 % Sex Men 8 % 10 % 9 % 10 % Women 13 % 15 % 14 % 13 % Race/Ethnicity White 10 % 11 % 10 % 9 % African-American 18 % 22 % 22 % 23 % Hispanic 11 % 12 % 15 % 16 % Education High school or less 13 % 14 % 14 % 13 % Some college 9 % 12 % 10 % 11 % College graduate 6 % 9 % 10 % 7 % Post graduate 7 % 10 % 8 % 10 % Party Republican 7 % 10 % 9 % 6 % Democrat 12 % 13 % 15 % 12 % Independent 8 % 12 % 11 % 13 % TABLE 6 POTENTIAL IMPACT OF BELIEF THAT INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE CONVICTED ON ATTITUDES TO DEATH PENALTY "If you believed that quite a substantial number of innocent people are convicted of murder, would you then believe in or oppose the death penalty for murder?" Base: Believe innocent people sometimes convicted of murder (95%) Dec 2000 2001 2003 % % % Would believe in 53 36 39* Would oppose 36 53 51** Don't know/Refused 11 11 9 * This represents 37% of all adults. ** This represented 47% of all adults. Methodology The Harris Poll(R) was conducted by telephone within the United States between December 10 and 16, 2003 among a nationwide cross-section of 993 adults (ages 18+). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of +/- 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. About Harris Interactive(R) Harris Interactive (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll(R), and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries -- London-based HI Europe (http://www.hieurope.com/) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan -- as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market- and opinion- research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to participate in future online surveys, visit http://www.harrispollonline.com/ . DATASOURCE: Harris Interactive CONTACT: Nancy Wong of Harris Interactive, +1-585-214-7316, Web site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/

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