Capital Punishment
Opinion breaks down along racial lines.
Left
Although Americans' support for the death penalty has waxed and waned over the years, today 65 percent favor capital punishment for someone convicted of murder, while only 31 percent are opposed. When disaggregated by race and ethnicity, support for capital punishment appears less strong among certain groups. For example, only 40 percent of blacks and 48 percent of Hispanics say they favor the death penalty, compared to 73 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Source: The Gallup Organization, June 2007.