HAMDEN, Conn., May 2 (UPI) -- U.S. voters say they favor the death penalty more for terrorists than for ordinary murderers, a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday indicated.
Asked whether they favored the death penalty or life in prison without parole for people convicted of murder, voters choose the death penalty 48 percent to 43 percent, results of the national poll indicated.
When presented the same options for a person convicted of murder during an act of terrorism, the results indicated voters favored the death penalty 63 percent to 32 percent, the Hamden, Conn., university said.
When asked specifically about the alleged Boston Marathon bomber, voters said they favor the death penalty 59 percent to 36 percent if he is convicted.
Voters also said they favor putting alleged terrorists on trial in a military court rather than a civilian court, 58 percent to 30 percent. Thirty-five percent of voters say the U.S. criminal justice system is capable of dealing with terrorism and 53 percent say the system affords terrorism suspects too many rights.
Results are based on phone surveys with 1,471 registered voters conducted April 25-29. The margin of error is 2.6 percentage points.
