(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in the Empire State believe the death penalty should not be used to deal with specific crimes, according to a poll by Blum and Weprin Associates published in Newsday. 53 per cent of respondents believe people convicted of murder should be sentenced to life imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole, while 38 per cent favour execution.

Since 1976, 1,012 people have been put to death in the United States, including eight during 2006. 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.

New York reinstated capital punishment in 1995. In June 2004, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the state's death penalty is illegal. The Empire State has not executed a single person since 1963.

New York will elect a new governor on Nov. 7. Democratic state attorney general Eliot Spitzer has been the consistent frontrunner in voting intention polls. Spitzer supports the death penalty, but his running mate—state senator David Paterson—is opposed for "spiritual reasons."

Polling Data

If you could choose between the following two approaches, which do you think is the better penalty for murder?

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