>Minorities overwhelmingly favor capital
punishment.
Well, not exactly, as these excerpted tables from the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics show. I suspect the difference between the responses on the first and second can be attributed to the phrase "for persons convicted of murder." The first is more an abstract philosophical question. But even on the second, "minorities" are much less in favor of the DP than are whites.
Doug
============================================================================ <http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/1995/tost_2.html#2_w>
Table 2.58 Do you believe in capital punishment, that is, the death penalty, or are you opposed to it?
believe oppposed not sure/refused National 71% 21% 8%
Sex Male 75 20 5 Female 66 23 11
Race, ethnicity White 77 15 8 Black 39 51 10 Hispanic 65 32 3
Table 2.58 Question: Are you in favor of the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?
Yes No Don't know/
refused
National 73.4% 19.9% 6.7%
Sex Male 81.7 13.7 4.6 Female 65.6 25.7 8.7
Race, ethnicity White 77.2 16.5 6.3 Black 58.6 32.4 9.0 Hispanic 61.0 33.8 5.2
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