Death Penalty Support Rises to 83%, Poll Finds
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SAN FRANCISCO — More than four out of five Californians support the death penalty, the highest the figure has been since pollster Mervin Field started asking the question in 1956, according to a California Poll released Wednesday.
The poll said 83% of those questioned favored keeping the death sentence for serious crimes, with 15% opposed.
About one-half of the public supported capital punishment in 1956 and the percentage has climbed in each survey. In 1981, the last time the question was asked, the poll reported that 78% of the public backed the death penalty.
The poll reported that those surveyed said the death penalty served as a protection against further crimes by the guilty person and was a deterrent to other potential criminals.
“A majority of the public rejects a third argument that the death penalty is society’s way of getting even with the criminal for what has been done to the victim,” according to the poll.
The last execution in California was in 1967.
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