Capital punishment debate in the United States
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The debate over capital punishment in the United States existed as early as the colonial period.[1] As of April 2022, it remains a legal penalty within 28 states, the federal government, and military criminal justice systems. The states of Colorado,[2] Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington abolished the death penalty within the last decade alone.[3]
Gallup, Inc. 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;[4] 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.[5]