According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of Americans know that innocent people can be killed via death penalty sentences, yet still support the death penalty:
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Mar. 25-29 among 1,500 adults, finds widespread doubts about how the death penalty is applied and whether it deters serious crime. Yet a majority (63%) says that when someone commits a crime like murder, the death penalty is morally justified; just 31% say it is morally wrong, even in cases of murder.
At the same time, 71% of Americans say there is some risk that an innocent person will be put to death. Only about a quarter (26%) say there are adequate safeguards in place to make sure that does not happen.
About six-in-ten (61%) say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes; 35% say it does deter serious crime.
And about half (52%) say that minorities are more likely than whites to be sentenced to death for similar crimes; fewer (41%) think that whites and minorities are equally likely to be sentenced for similar .
This graphic is from Vox:
How repulsive is this? We have real doubts about the *justice* of the death penalty, but we still support it. Not exactly the response of a nation guided by the Ten Commandments — the Thou Shalt Not Kill one. Or of a nation that is supposedly committed to Justice for All.
Ezra Klein thinks about why Americans support the death penalty:
Previous Gallup surveys have given a consistent justification: vengeance. In 2014, 35 percent of those in favor of the death penalty for convicted murderers said a variation of “it fits the crime,” “eye for an eye,” or “they took a life,” while 14 percent said “they deserve it.” Another 14 percent said the death penalty saves money — even though lengthy court appeals make it more expensive than life in prison. Just 6 percent said it deters crime.
So Americans are more bloodthirsty than they are Christian is looks like from here. And even the rhetoric around the death penalty in individual cases doesn’t concern itself with justice — it is about how bloodthirsty we are.