From the Field: THE GROWING SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION FOR DEATH PENALTY JURISPRUDENCE

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy L. Mallicoat ◽  
Michael L. Radelet
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty

Public Opinion and Capital Punishment: A Close Examination of the Views of Abolitionists and Retentionists

1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe C. Ellsworth ◽  
Lee Ross
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Supreme ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Legal Implications

A survey designed to examine the attitudinal and informational bases of people's opinions about the death penalty was administered to 500 Northern California residents (response rate = 96 percent). Of these, 58.8 percent were proponents of capital punishment, 30.8 percent were opponents, and 10.4 percent were undecided. When asked whether they favored mandatory, discretionary, or no death penalty for various crimes, respondents tended to treat these options as points on a scale of strength of belief, with mandatory penalties favored for the most serious crimes, rather than considering the questions of objectivity and fairness that have influenced the United States Supreme Court's considerations of these options. For no crime did a majority favor execution of all those convicted, even when a mandatory penalty was endorsed. Respondents were generally ignorant on factual issues related to the death penalty, and indicated that if their factual beliefs (in deterrence) were incorrect, their attitude would not be influenced. When asked about their reasons for favoring or opposing the death penalty, respondents tended to endorse all reasons consistent with their attitudes, indicating that the attitude does not stem from a set of reasoned beliefs, but may be an undifferenti ated, emotional reflection of one's ideological self-image. Opponents favored due process guarantees more than did Proponents. A majority of respondents said they would need more evidence to convict if a case was capital. Theoretical and legal implications of the results are discussed.

Informed Public Opinion and Death Penalty Attitudes

1981 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Vidmar ◽  
Tony Dittenhoffer
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty

scholarly journals Public opinion on crime, punishment and the death penalty in Barbados

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-320
Author(s):  
Lynsey Black ◽  
Lizzie Seal ◽  
Florence Seemungal
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Crime And Punishment ◽  
Focus Group Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Group Research ◽  
Global North ◽  
New Perspective

The bulk of extant research on public opinion on crime and punishment is focused on Global North nations. This article contributes a new perspective to the literature on punitivism by examining public opinion on crime, punishment and the death penalty in Barbados. The article presents insights from exploratory focus group research conducted in Barbados in 2017. These findings are particularly relevant as Barbadian lawmakers navigate reform of the nation’s death penalty law. While the focus groups reveal anxieties that echo those identified in other jurisdictions, related to nostalgia for the past and concern regarding social order for instance, they also demonstrate the specific relevance of time and place. Using approaches from Caribbean Criminology and drawing on post-colonial perspectives, the article examines the context of views on punishment in Barbados, including perceptions of ‘neo-colonial’ interference and concerns about what can be lost in the process of ‘progress’.

Testing Death Penalty Opinions With General Questions and A Specific Case Scenario: Potential Lessons From China

2021 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2110668
Author(s):  
Bin Liang ◽  
Hong Lu ◽  
Jianhong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Death Sentences ◽  
Crime Scenarios ◽  
Death Penalty Opinion

Despite rich literature on public opinion on capital punishment, only a few studies examined people’s death penalty support within specific contexts. None have explored if correlates that influence people’s opinion would hold the same effect in general questions and specific case scenarios. Similarly, the Marshall hypotheses have not been tested with specific crime scenarios. Based on a sample of 1,077 students in a quasiexperimental design, this study contrasts Chinese students’ death penalty opinion in general questions with a specific crime scenario, and tests the Marshall hypotheses with the latter. Compared to their support in general questions, students’ support for death sentences dropped significantly in the specific crime scenario. Multivariate analyses showed that different factors influenced people’s decisions in the general questions and in the specific case, and respondents’ choices of preferred punishment in the specific crime scenario failed to lend support to the Marshall hypotheses.

Public Opinion about the Death Penalty

2017 ◽  
pp. 55-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Butler ◽  
James D. Unnever ◽  
Francis T. Cullen ◽  
Angela J. Thielo
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty

Between hammer and anvil: the Russian Constitutional Court’s position on abolition of the death penalty

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 112-133
Author(s):  
Olga Komshukova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Key Factor

The key factor in maintaining a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia is its membership in the Council of Europe, which requires compliance with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the abolition of the death penalty. One of the proponents of maintaining Russia’s adherence to the Convention is the Russian Constitutional Court. However, the return of the death penalty as a capital punishment finds some support in Russia. Therefore, the Constitutional Court has to maintain a balance between two forces: internal pressure from public opinion and a number of conservative government representatives, and fidelity to the fundamental principles of the Russian Constitution and international law, backed up by international obligations undertaken by Russia. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze contradictions among the priorities of the Russian Constitutional Court in its implementation of foreign and domestic legal policy through a political and legal analysis of its argumentation regarding the abolition of the death penalty. In turn, full-fledged analysis of the Court’s argument is possible only by taking into account the domestic and international contexts. The article is structured as follows: firstly, it examines the evolution of the question of the abolition of the death penalty in Russia and the main decisions of the Russian Constitutional Court related to the introduction and maintenance of a moratorium on the death penalty. Secondly, it examines the domestic context of decisions taken by the Court from the perspective of key actors (the professional community, government officials, public opinion). Thirdly, it considers the international context of decision-making (the development of relations between Russia and the Council of Europe, the Russian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as foreign experience with the issue of abolition of the death penalty). In conclusion, the article analyzes the main arguments of the Russian Constitutional Court to justify the need to abolish the death penalty and discusses the role of the Constitutional Court in resolving the death penalty issue.

The Death Penalty and Public Opinion

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. E. Kvashis
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Death Penalty
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