US death penalty support falls to 55-year low, poll says

Support for the death penalty among Americans has fallen to its lowest level in 55 years, according to a Gallup poll published Tuesday.

Gallup found that 49 percent of US adults favour the death penalty for convicted murderers, while 45 percent oppose it. Gallup said the last time support for capital punishment was below 50 percent was in 1971, when it was also 49 percent.

The poll of 1,200 adults was conducted from October 1 to 19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Polling began one day after the botched lethal-injection execution in Tennessee of convicted murderer Christa Pike. Pike survived doses of pentobarbital and was taken to hospital in critical condition. She has since been returned to prison and recently said she is in constant pain.

Laura Porter, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said the figures showed the country was “at a pivotal turning point in public opinion on the death penalty.” She cited recent botched executions, a proposal to livestream an execution and increasing clemency grants by Republican and Democratic governors.

US President Donald Trump recently cancelled a plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of a convicted military base mass shooter. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced this month that he was commuting all death sentences in the state to life imprisonment, affecting more than 500 prisoners.

Gallup said most Americans over 50 tend to favour the death penalty for convicted murderers, while younger Americans oppose it. It said 73 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of Independents and 28 percent of Democrats support the death penalty.

There have been 35 executions in the United States this year, all by lethal injection. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while California, Oregon and Pennsylvania have moratoriums in place.