The Death Penalty and Public Opinion

A 2004 poll of Missourians by the Center for Social Sciences and Public Research discovered the following:

When given alternatives to the death penalty, such as life without parole or life with 25 years before the possibility of parole, the majority of Missourians prefer these alternatives to the death penalty.

60% of Missourians polled said they would support a three-year delay (moratorium) of scheduled executions to investigate sentencing practices and the effects of the death penalty.

Most polled said that a legislator voting to replace the death penalty with life without parole would not affect whether they voted for that candidate.

81% of those polled said it would either not affect their vote or make them more likely to vote for a legislator who voted to institute a moratorium on executions and a study commission.

Almost two-thirds of Missourians polled said that the most important goal of justice is ensuring the accused is actually guilty of the crime. Over 80% of respondents said they are affected by the fact that some people executed are later found to be innocent.

The ambivalence of Missouri citizens toward the death penalty is shown by the fact that in 1995, three Jackson County juries deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty in three separate cases. ("Public Shows Mixed Feelings on Executions," Kansas City Star, September 26, 1995). Public support for the death penalty may be accurately described as "a mile wide and an inch deep."