Divided on death penalty

Though a majority of Americans still favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, support for capital punishment has been in steady decline since 1996, according to a Pew Research Center survey. In 1996, 78 percent of Americans favored the death penalty, while 18 percent were opposed; that gap narrowed in 2013 to 55 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed. As usual, the researchers found a significant difference in opinion depending on political party affiliation—71 percent of Republicans support the death penalty, compared with 45 percent of Democrats.