Capital punishment debate in the United States

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The debate over <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States/D3YCzcrL">capital punishment in the United States</a> existed as early as the <a href="/facts/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States/6fYe7RfF">colonial period</a>. As of April 2022, it remains a legal penalty within 28 states, the federal government, and military criminal justice systems. The states of <a href="/facts/Colorado/IgIHrJI5">Colorado</a>, <a href="/facts/Delaware/4n4I3Rhu">Delaware</a>, <a href="/facts/Illinois/MuPb1Ctn">Illinois</a>, <a href="/facts/Maryland/tVy9fC1n">Maryland</a>, <a href="/facts/New_Hampshire/DljxSg3H">New Hampshire</a>, <a href="/facts/Virginia/g2kucGdn">Virginia</a>, and <a href="/facts/Washington_(state)/7tCrTFnN">Washington</a> abolished the death penalty within the last decade alone.
</p><p><a href="/facts/Gallup,_Inc./rW70sbKh">Gallup, Inc.</a> has monitored support for the death penalty in the United States since 1937 by asking "Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" Opposition to the death penalty peaked in 1966, with 47% of Americans opposing it; by comparison, 42% supported the death penalty and 11% had "no opinion." The death penalty increased in popularity throughout the 1970s and 1980s, when crime went up and politicians campaigned on fighting crime and drugs; in 1994, the opposition rate was less than 20%, less than in any other year. Since then, the crime rate has fallen and opposition to the death penalty has strengthened again. In the October 2021 poll, 54% of respondents said they were in favor and 43% were opposed.
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Capital punishment debate in the United States open-in-new

Capital punishment debate in the United States