PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Some 60 percent of Americans say they favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, the lowest level of support in more than 40 years, a poll indicates.
Support for the death penalty peaked at 80 percent in 1994 and has gradually declined, Gallup reported Tuesday.
The previous record low was 57 percent in November 1972, the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Furman vs. Georgia the punishment was unconstitutional on technical grounds.
Its peak in 1994 occurred as Americans cited crime as the country's most pressing problem.
The polling firm began asking the question in 1936.
The latest poll, conducted Oct. 3-6, found 81 percent of Republicans favored the death penalty while only 47 percent of Democrats did. Some 60 percent of independents said they supported use of the death penalty. While support by Republicans and independents has been relatively unchanged in recent decades, the poll found Democratic support had declined 28 percentage points since 1994.
Some 52 percent of those polled said the death penalty was applied fairly while 40 percent said it was not.
In a separate question, 44 percent said the death penalty was not applied often enough and 22 percent said it was applied too often.
Gallup noted an increasing number of states have abolished the death penalty. Eighteen states have banned the death penalty, with six abolishing it since 2006.
Some 1,028 adults were surveyed. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
