According to a new Gallup poll, support for the death penalty in the United States has fallen to its lowest rate in more than four decades.
Though a majority of Americans continue to support a practice that is condemned by human rights advocates and banned in most other highly-developed nations, the 60% approval rating for state murder is the second lowest in nearly eighty years and shows the recent trend against capital punishment continues.
As Gallup reports, the new results show the lowest level of support measured “since November 1972, when 57% were in favor.” Gallup explains that though a majority of Americans have always supported it, approval of the death penalty peaked at 80% in 1994, but has gradually declined ever since.
As this graph shows:
According to Agence France-Presse: “Of the 50 US states, 32 implement the death penalty, while 18 plus the federal capital city of Washington have abolished it.”
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