On November 8, Gallup released their annual death penalty poll followed by the release of a similar poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion the next day, both of which sparked headlines across the country about how much Americans seemingly support capital punishment: Gallup says 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty, while Angus Reid cranks that number all the way up to 83 percent.

But support for the death penalty drops when respondents are asked to consider alternatives – and it drops a lot depending on which one is presented. Gallup asks about the death penalty every year, but occasionally they also ask if people prefer the death penalty over “life imprisonment, with absolutely no possibility of parole.” This year, when given the alternative of life without parole, support for the death penalty falls from 64 percent to 49 percent – just 3 percent higher than those who prefer the alternative, within the margin of error. The last time Gallup asked about the alternative of life without parole was 2006, and at that time support for permanent imprisonment was actually higher than support for the death penalty, again within the margin of error.

In California, the alternative is life without parole accompanied by work, with one’s pay contributing to a Victims’ Compensation Fund. Of course, work and restitution have never been mentioned in the Gallup poll asking about alternatives.  Only one poll asking about restitution was conducted in 2001 by Peter Hart Associates, which found preference for the death penalty at 38 percent, well below support for the alternative. I don’t know of any polls that mention that this alternative is already state law in California.

In the Angus Reid poll, respondents were never presented with alternatives to the death penalty. A stunning 81 percent of respondents, however, believe that innocent people have been executed, and only 39 percent agreed that the death penalty deters murder.

The truth is that despite the “hang ‘em high” headlines, these polls reveal a deep ambivalence toward the death penalty. Though some people believe in execution, many also recognize that the system is broken, that innocents can be put to death, that death doesn’t deter crime, and that other forms of punishment restore the balance of justice much more effectively by providing victims with restitution instead of retribution.

And not once do these polls mention that the death penalty is vastly more expensive than alternatives that would allow for more resources to be spent on restitution, unsolved murder investigations and crime prevention.

Nonetheless, we can expect prosecutors who pursue the death penalty (most don’t, by the way) to continue to rely on misleading headlines and a light reading of polls to bolster their position. Shallow analysis conveniently helps to perpetuate the myth that Americans want the death penalty despite its cost, its risks and the available alternatives. Elected officials like America’s top advocate for death sentencing, District Attorney Steve Cooley from Los Angeles, for example, often claim that they have broad community support for their expensive and reckless pursuit of the death penalty. But the ultimate punishment always deserves careful consideration and polls that tackle this weighty topic call for a second look.

Take action now and tell Steve Cooley to stop death sentencing in LA County and curb this reckless trend in America’s capital punishment capital.

Photo Credit: kevinzhengli

Do Americans Really Support the Death Penalty?

According to The Tennessean, “In 2005, police cleared 211 cases without making an arrest. One year later, the number jumped to 3,866, and by 2009, it was 5,600. Police cited the victims’ lack of cooperation for not pursuing those arrests, but state law says that cannot be an excuse if there is other evidence or probable cause.” As the paper clarified in a second article, Tennessee law very clearly states that “a victim’s cooperativeness ‘shall not’ even be considered when considering whether to make an arrest.”

Although it’s clear that the Nashville Police Department has broken the law thousands of times, the members of the department have tried to place the blame on small, administrative stuff: Interim Chief Steve Anderson “chalked up the spike to a new police form that came online that year to simplify the classification of such cases.” Or, he later mused, “It could be something as simple as a training issue.” Right. This could only be a “training issue” if police are trained not to take domestic violence seriously. And what kind of “form” lets police get away with closing a case with the words, “The victim in the case doesn’t wish to prosecute at this time,” ignoring the photos in the file of her severely bruised arms.

Ever think that a woman may decline to prosecute because she could face a lot worse than black-and-blue arms? Why on earth let a woman go home to a man that had just severely beaten her? The investigation turned up other anecdotes in which women tried to follow-up and have the man who abused or threatened them arrested, only to find out their cases had been closed and couldn’t be reopened.

The Tennessean talked to a retired lieutenant who worked in the domestic violence division from 2004-2009. He believes that officers and detectives were wrongly classifying cases as “unfounded,” giving the appearance that they were doing a better job than they actually were, and felt that the department pressured officers to close cases and return to handing out traffic tickets. He made complaints about it that never went anywhere. Others feel the department was understaffed; once home to over 20 detectives, the domestic violence unit dropped to only 8 in 2008.

Nashville’s mayor has requested an audit  based on The Tennessean’s piece and the police department is looking into the problem. But if they’re looking for poor training or an online form to blame 5,600 dismissed cases of domestic abuse on, they are looking in the wrong place. This looks like a deep-seated problem in the Nashville Police Department.

It is also a symptom of a problem across the nation: not taking domestic abuse and violence against women seriously. Thousands of rape kits are stored, untested, across the country; in Washington, D.C., a young woman begged police to take her rape seriously, to no avail. Refusing to address almost 6,000 cases of domestic violence in violation of the law is criminal; sadly, it’s more indicative of how we (mis)understand domestic abuse than an exception to the rule.

Photo credit: SashaW

Nashville Police Prioritize Traffic Tickets Over Thousands of Domestic Violence Cases