According to the most recent Gallup poll,​ forty-nine percent of U.S. adults are in favor of the death penalty for convicted murderers, and 45% are opposed. The latest result marks the first time that support for the death penalty has been below the majority level since 1971, when it was also at 49%.

The last time support was lower than now was in 1966, when a record-low 42% favored the death penalty. The high point for support was 80% in 1994.

Support for the death penalty in the U.S. has declined significantly over the past three decades, led by declines among Democrats and younger generations of U.S. adults. With the recent botched executions attempts in Tennessee, more people are questioning the government’s competency to carry out executions at all.

TADP will keep educating Tennesseans about this failed policy–a policy that only distracts us from focusing on those evidence-based initiatives that make us safer, like more investment in victims’ support services and violence prevention.

As more Tennesseans get this reality, the closer we get to repealing the death penalty.