US poll shows death penalty lost majority support for first time since 1971

What the report says

A new Gallup poll reported by Al Jazeera finds that support for the death penalty in the United States has dropped below 50 percent for the first time since 1971. The survey, released on Tuesday, showed 49 percent of respondents favoring capital punishment for people convicted of murder, while 45 percent opposed it. Gallup said the result is statistically close to last year’s 52 percent but still marks a historic shift in public opinion.

The article says support has been declining for decades amid concerns about fairness, racial bias, cost, botched executions and the risk of wrongful convictions. It also notes that research has questioned whether capital punishment deters crime. The poll showed sharp generational and political differences: support was higher among people 50 and older than among those under 30, and stronger among Republicans than independents or Democrats.

Al Jazeera also places the findings in the wider US criminal justice debate. According to the report, 27 states still retain the death penalty, while 23 have abolished it and four have paused it through executive action. The story adds that federal executions increased during Donald Trump’s first term, and that recent botched executions have renewed scrutiny of whether the punishment amounts to cruel and unusual treatment.