(Angus Reid – CPOD Global Scan) – Many adults in Connecticut support capital punishment, according to a poll by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut published in the Hartford Courant. 58 per cent of respondents are in favour of the death penalty.When offered a choice of punishment for someone who is convicted of first degree murder, 58 per cent of respondent
(Angus Reid – CPOD Global Scan) – Many adults in Connecticut support capital punishment, according to a poll by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut published in the Hartford Courant. 58 per cent of respondents are in favour of the death penalty.
When offered a choice of punishment for someone who is convicted of first degree murder, 58 per cent of respondents in Connecticut chose life in prison—with or without the possibility of parole—while 32 per cent preferred capital punishment.
Since 1976, 945 people have been put to death in the United States, including two during 2005. More than a third of all executions have taken place in the state of Texas. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia do not engage in capital punishment, and a moratorium on executions has been issued in Illinois.
In December, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional, due to a provision on the way jurors should approach the issue of capital punishment during sentencing. Six inmates who were awaiting execution will be re-sentenced.
Michael Ross—who has admitted to killing eight women in Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s—is due to receive a lethal injection on Jan. 26. Governor Judy Rell has said she will not step in to delay the Constitution State’s first execution in more than 40 years. 81 per cent of respondents agree with Rell’s decision not to intervene.
Polling Data
Do you favour or oppose the death penalty?
Strongly favour | 34% |
Somewhat favour | 24% |
Somewhat oppose | 15% |
Strongly oppose | 18% |
For someone who is convicted of first degree murder, which of the following sentences do you prefer: the death penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, or life in prison with the possibility of parole?
The death penalty | 32% |
Life in prison without | 46% |
Life in prison with the | 12% |
Agree | 81% |
Disagree | 14% |
Don’t know | 5% |
Source: Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut / The Hartford Courant
Methodology: Interviews to 501 Connecticut residents, conducted from Jan. 12 to Jan. 15, 2004. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
