Support for California death penalty slipping
A new Field Poll finds 56 percent of Californians support the death penalty, but support has fallen by 12 percentage points in just three years.
Field’s survey of registered voters found 56 percent favor keeping the death penalty, 34 percent support abolishing it and 10 percent have no opinion.
Friday’s report shows support has fallen to its lowest level in more than 50 years. It’s also a sharp decline from 2011, when Field found 68 percent favored keeping the death penalty.
A federal court judge this summer ruled the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional because it takes too long to carry out. Attorney General Kamala Harris is appealing.
Field surveyed 1,280 registered voters from Aug. 14-28. The poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
