Second Thoughts: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty at the Turn of the Century (From Committee on Law and Justice: Death Penalty Seminar, 2004 --See NCJ-206355)

• NCJ Number: 206356
• Author(s): Samuel R. Gross; Phoebe C. Ellsworth
• Date Published: July 2004
• Length: 26 pages
• Sale Source: National Academies Press
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This working paper, examines America’s changing views on capital punishment since the turn of the century.

Abstract

Since 1996, evidence suggests a steady decline in American support for capital punishment. The authors examine individual and contextual reasons for the decline in support for capital punishment. Generally changes in support for capital punishment correspond to changes in the violent crime rate, particularly the homicide rate, and there is evidence that this is the case now; although while the violent crime rate dropped dramatically between 1994 and 1996, there was no corresponding plunge in support for capital punishment. By 1996, capital punishment had been such a fixture in American culture that it presented a “cultural truism” in that support of capital punishment was widespread and unquestioned. As a result, when arguments against capital punishment began emerging, proponents of capital punishment were unprepared to defend the practice, especially in a time of decreasing violent crime rates. As a result of high-profile arguments against capital punishment that have been waged in the media, a new atmosphere has emerged in which capital punishment is continually questioned, even by legislators. Technological advancements in research methods and DNA analyses have provided the hard evidence necessary to cause cultural shifts in the way capital punishment is viewed in current American society. The inconsistencies and contradictions in the American criminal justice system have increasingly come to light, causing widespread skepticism about the morality of carrying out executions within an imperfect justice system. Despite the recent changes in American death penalty attitudes, there are some enduring aspects that have remained unchanged, such as retribution as an underlying reason for support of capital punishment. However, Americans as a whole have deep reservations about the fairness of capital punishment; the authors examine the power of concrete cases as persuasive factors in public opinion. Change in public opinion occurs when new information is reinforced by the existence of a new script and an altered context, such as a lower crime rate. These factors have converged to decrease support for capital punishment since the turn of the century; however, support for the death penalty remains strong and could either rebound or level out instead of continuing to decrease. Appendix, sources, endnotes