Search results
- Six-in-ten U.S. adults strongly or somewhat favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, according to the April 2021 survey. A similar share (64%) say the death penalty is morally justified when someone commits a crime like murder.
- A majority of Americans have concerns about the fairness of the death penalty and whether it serves as a deterrent against serious crime. More than half of U.S. adults (56%) say Black people are more likely than White people to be sentenced to death for committing similar crimes.
- Opinions about the death penalty vary by party, education and race and ethnicity. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to favor the death penalty for convicted murderers (77% vs. 46%).
- Views of the death penalty differ by religious affiliation. Around two-thirds of Protestants in the U.S. (66%) favor capital punishment, though support is much higher among White evangelical Protestants (75%) and White non-evangelical Protestants (73%) than it is among Black Protestants (50%).
- What Has Biden Done to Date?
- What Has The White House Said?
- What About The Moritorium?
- What Does The Review During The Moratorium Entail?
- What About The Protocols?
- What Do Death Penalty Opponents Want done?
Biden himself has not issued any formal directives or policy statements on federal capital punishment. During the 2016 campaign, he vowed both to end the federal death penalty for good, and to work at ending it in all states. He has been silent on both federal and state death penalties. The lack of clear steps toward abolishing the death penalty or...
In an email to The Associated Press earlier this year, the White House said the president “has long talked about his concerns about how the death penalty is applied and whether it is consistent with the values fundamental to our sense of justice and fairness.” It added Biden supports the attorney general’s decision to impose the moratorium. “The DO...
Garland announced a halt to federal executionsin 2021, meaning the Justice Department won’t issue orders to execute anyone, at least while the moratorium is in place. But the moratorium doesn’t stop the department from pursuing the death penalty and it doesn’t stop U.S. prosecutors from continuing to fight legal action by death row inmates trying t...
The Justice Department hasn’t offered details, including end goals or timetables. Garland has said the review would look at protocols put in place by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr. Attorneys for death row inmates criticized the protocols, saying they allowed for hurried executions. What the review does not entail is an assessment of whethe...
In September, the Justice Department issued a public notice seeking comment about changes to Trump protocols, including one permitting execution methods other than lethal injection, such as firing squads. In a recent letter, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Dick Durbin urged the Justice Department to quickly annul all the Trump protoco...
They say Biden should draw on his presidential powers to commute all federal death sentences to life in prison, which would prevent those death sentences from ever being restored. There’s also proposed legislation to strike the death penalty from U.S. statutes and resentence the more than 40 inmates still on federal death row to life. Biden has giv...
This review focuses on empirical research about contemporary challenges to the death penalty in the United States. Challenges are factors that obstruct capital punishment, including legal or political restrictions; elimination at the federal or state level; or the hindrance of the process at its operational stages of charging, adjudicating ...
Feb 14, 2023 · Today, 27 states in the U.S., as well as the federal government, retain the death penalty, and as of April 2022, one source reported that there were 2,414 people on death row across the country.
Sep 27, 2024 · Less than half—47%—of Americans believe the death penalty is administered fairly, a record low. A clear trend line has emerged. Every year, we see fewer new death sentences and fewer...
- Brian Stull
This review addresses four key issues in the modern (post-1976) era of capital punishment in the United States. First, why has the United States retained the death penalty when all its peer countries (all other developed Western democracies) have abolished it?
People also ask
Is the death penalty a legal issue?
How many states have the death penalty?
Does the death penalty still exist?
Does the death penalty deter people from committing serious crimes?
What is the current status of the federal death penalty?
Do Americans support the death penalty?
Jan 20, 2021 · In its last six months, the United States government has put 13 prisoners to death. Do you think capital punishment should end?
