A recent New York Times poll found that 56% of surveyed New York voters prefer a sentence of life in prison (either without parole or with the possibility of parole) over the death penalty for people convicted of murder. Only 34% said they supported the death penalty, a significant drop from the 48% who supported it in 1994, just prior to New York’s reinstatement of capital punishment. This shift against the death penalty comes as state lawmakers are considering whether to abandon or try to fix New York’s unconstitutional death penalty statute. (New York Times, February 15, 2005). See Public Opinion and Life Without Parole.
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