KENTUCKY
COALITION to
ABOLISH the
DEATH
PENALTY
P.O. Box 3092 * Louisville, KY 40201-3092 * 502.636.1330 © staff@kcadp.org * www.kcadp.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: REV. PATRICK DELAHANTY — 502.494.3298
Polling Results Reflect Continued Trend to Support Use of Life without Parole
Gallup has released its latest measure of public opinion regarding support or opposition to the use of the
death penalty. While sixty-three percent of the public expresses support, that support has rapidly eroded
over the last twenty years.
“This movement away from the death penalty is a national trend,” said Rev. Patrick Delahanty, who
chairs the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. “That six states in the past seven years have
abandoned its use and replaced it with a sentence of life in prison without parole is evidence of that
trend.” He noted that since 2010 in Kentucky, jurors and judges have rejected the death penalty in every
case in which it was sought, but one.
Ata joint Interim Judiciary Committee meeting in August, Eastern Kentucky University Dean Allen Ault
told lawmakers it would be great if Kentucky banned executions. A ult described for lawmakers the
impact executing other human beings had on him and others with whom he worked as Commissioner of
Corrections in Georgia.
The erosion of support over these two decades is due to increased concern about executing the innocent.
More than 140 wrongfully convicted persons have been released from state death rows, including Larry
Osborne released from Kentucky’s death row at Eddyville.
Others are concemed about the death penalty’s high cost. Having this process in place drains resources
from state budgets that could easily be used to meet other needs.
Writing for Gallup, Jeffrey Jones says, “Democrats' opinions have also shifted markedly on the death
penalty vs. life imprisonment question. Two decades ago, Democrats preferred the death penalty by a
wide margin, but they now prefer life imprisonment by nearly the same margin. Independents' and
Republicans’ views have changed less, although both show increases in support for life imprisonment.”
The findings of the last poll of Kentuckians conducted by the University of Kentucky Survey Center
showed that when asked to select the most appropriate punishment for those convicted of aggravated
murder — and given the five choices available to Kentucky jurors — sixty-seven percent selected sentences
other than death. In fact, since 1997 support for alternatives to the death penalty in Kentucky has steadily
increase from thirty-eight percent to over sixty-seven percent in 2006.
What Kentucky jurors are doing mirror these survey results according to Delahanty. “Apparently
Kentucky juries believe we can keep society safe and achieve justice by locking up the most dangerous
offenders for life,” he said. “Kentucky lawmakers are becoming more and more aware this is a costly
process that risks executing the innocent and a less costly and effective alternative is available. Repeal of
this law can fix a broken system permanently.”
Don’t Kill For Us
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