The majority of Americans favor the continued use of the death penalty rather than oppose it, a new survey conducted by Pew Research Center has concluded.
The survey, conducted among 5,109 US adults, found that 60% of American adults favor the use of the death penalty for convicted murderers while only 39% oppose it. Of those in favor, 27% said they were strongly in favor, and 15% described themselves strongly opposed.
The amount of people who support the death penalty, however, is lower than it was in August 2020 when 65% of people answered favorably to the same question.
The survey also found that 78% of Americans are doubtful about whether or not there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent innocent people being put to death, and more than six-in-ten Americans, including about half of the death penalty supporters, say they do not think the penalty deters people from committing serious crimes.
In addition to this, 85% of black adults and 49% of white adults said that black people are more likely to be sentenced to death for committing a crime that white people would not be sentenced to death for.
Support for the death penalty appears to be a partisan issue, and over three-quarters of Republicans or Republican leaning independents support the death penalty being used on people convicted of murder. In contrast, only 46% of Democrats or Democrat leaning independents agree with this statement.