Public support for the death penalty in a red state: The distrustful, the angry, and the unsure
| Date | 01 October 2019 |
| Author | Colleen M Ray,Lisa A Kort-Butler |
| Published date | 01 October 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1462474518795896 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Public support for the
death penalty in a red
state: The distrustful, the
angry, and the unsure
Lisa A Kort-Butler and Colleen M Ray
University of Nebraska – Lincoln, USA
Abstract
Set against the backdrop of Nebraska’s 2015 legislative repeal of the death penalty and
the 2016 electoral reinstatement, we examined public suppor t for capital punishment.
Using two years of statewide survey data, we compared respondents who preferred
the death penalty for murder, those who preferred other penalties, and those who
were unsure, a respondent group often excluded from research. To understand what
distinguishes among these groups, we examined media consumption, instrumental and
expressive feelings about crime, and confidence and trust in the government regarding
criminal justice. Results revealed that those who preferred the death penalty expressed
more anger about crime and greater distrust, but perceived the death penalty as applied
more fairly, relative to the other groups. The unsures, compared to those who pre-
ferred other penalties, were less trusting and viewed the death penalty as applied more
fairly. The persistence of public support for capital punishment may best be understood
for its symbolic, expressive qualities.
Keywords
capital punishment, death penalty, punitiveness
In 2015, Nebraska made national and international headlines, becoming the first
consistently conservative “red” state in the US to abolish the death penalty when
the legislature overrode the governor’s veto on Nebraska Legislative Bill 268
(LB268) (BBC, 2015; Bearman, 2015a; Bosman, 2015). This action reflected a
Corresponding author:
Lisa A Kort-Butler,Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA.
Email: Lkortbutler2@unl.edu
Punishment & Society
2019, Vol. 21(4) 473–495
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1462474518795896
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larger movement among conservative lawmakers who were revisiting the tough-on-
crime stance that dominated past decades (Pickett, 2016), as well as initiatives in
other states to eliminate the death penalty (Seiver, 2015). Nevertheless, during the
2016 election cycle, following a campaign by pro-death penalty politicians and
special interest groups, Nebraskans voted to keep capital punishment (Cohen,
2016). In spite of some politicians – and because of others – the reinstatement of
capital punishment directly reflected popular will (Garland, 2010).
Why has declining public support, at least nationally (Gallup, n.d.), not readily
translated to public action at the polls? Researchers have identified several factors
that are related to death penalty support, including media consumption (Britto and
Noga-Styron, 2014; Kleck and Jackson, 2017), instrumental and expressive con-
cerns about crime (Wozniak, 2017), and attitudes about the government and fair-
ness of the justice system (Peffley and Hurwitz, 2007; Unnever and Cullen, 2010).
Conspicuously absent from much of the research, however, are those people who
respond to death penalty opinion questions with “no opinion” or “unsure”
(Unnever et al., 2005). Discovering their motivations may yield insights into
why public opinion polls do not neatly align with political preferences. Indeed,
Garland (2005: 360) theorized that political change toward full abolition will tend
to occur when this “uncommitted, ambivalent group” can be mobilized.
Using Nebraska as a case study, our primary purpose was to distinguish among
those who preferred the death penalty for murder, those who preferred other
penalties (e.g., life sentences), and the “unsures,” examining a series of factors
that have been theoretically and/or empirically linked to death penalty support.
To begin, we review public support for the death penalty in national polls and
discuss how the unsures are typically handled in death penalty research. Then, we
outline the theoretical and empirical factors tied to punitiveness and support for
the death penalty. To provide context we briefly describe Nebraska’s recent legis-
lative history regarding capital punishment. In our analysis, we draw on two state-
wide surveys gathered during the death penalty legislative debate and ballot
initiative. We examine how media consumption, instrumental and expressive con-
cerns about crime, and attitudes about the government’s role in controlling crime
and the application of the death penalty distinguished among the three groups. We
conclude with a discussion of the unsures and the symbolic, expressive nature of
death penalty support.
Public support for the death penalty
While states grapple with cost and equity issues, public opinion on capital punish-
ment has slowly waned. National polls show a decline in public support for the
death penalty since the peak years in the mid-1990s. At its 1994 peak, Gallup (n.d.)
noted 80% of people were in favor of the death penalty, compared to 60% in 2016.
Pew Research placed that recent figure even lower, with 49% of respondents
favoring capital punishment and 42% opposing it (Oliphant, 2016). Support of
life imprisonment for murder, in contrast, has increased, from 29% in 1993 to 45%
474 Punishment & Society 21(4)
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