By Sarah Sinning
A majority of Americans are in favor of the death penalty, despite concerns about its fairness, the risk of harming innocent people, and whether it actually deters serious crimes.
According to a recently released poll from the Pew Research Center, 60% of U.S. adults favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder, including 27% who strongly support it.
This is, however, five percentage points lower than in August of last year, when 65% expressed support.
The poll also found that 78% of respondents had concerns about putting an innocent person to death, with only 21% believing there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.
A majority (56%) also believe that Black Americans are more likely than white people to be sentenced to death.
Sixty-three percent said capital punishment does not deter people from committing serious crimes.
Pew surveyed 5,109 adults between April 5-11. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.