The Utah Justice Coalition is pleased to report the results of a new poll that shows the changing attitudes toward the death penalty by Utah residents.
The results show that 64-percent of Utahns who were polled favor alternatives to the death penalty for people convicted of murder.
The survey of 784 Utah voters by Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, North Carolina took place January 13-15. Respondents were asked this question; “Of the following list of choices, which punishment do you prefer for people convicted of murder?”
Here is how they responded:
- 9% Life in prison with no possibility of parole
- 47% Life in prison with no possibility of parole and a requirement to work in prison and pay restitution to the victims
- 8% life in prison with a possibility of parole after at least 40 years
- 29% The death penalty
- 6% not sure
“By giving people the full array of alternatives to the death penalty this poll was able to find out how people in Utah really feel,” said Kevin Greene, Organizing Director of Utah Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a project of the Utah Justice Coalition. “The death penalty is losing favor in our state because it wastes tax dollars, is ineffective in stopping violent crime, and risks possibly killing an innocent person, and none of those things align with our conservative principles.”
