Innocence and the Death Penalty: Does Information about Wrongful Convictions Decrease Support for Capital Punishment?

• In Event: Wrongful Convictions: Causes and Effects

Abstract

Scholars and legal practitioners, including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, have long asserted that increased knowledge about the death penalty would lead the public to view the practice more negatively. A number of experts and advocates have suggested that the recent decrease in support for capital punishment is due largely to concerns about wrongful convictions. Indeed, the decrease in death penalty support has coincided with the rise of the “innocence movement,” but little research has directly tested the effects of wrongful convictions on death penalty support. We use a set of nationally representative survey experiments to assess whether and to what extent information about wrongful convictions – presented in different ways – influences individuals’ support for capital punishment. More specifically, we directly assess the effects of wrongful conviction numbers and statistics, a public safety frame, and a wrongful conviction narrative.

Authors

• Robert J. Norris, Appalachian State University

• Kevin J. Mullinix, Appalachian State University

• Bryan Gertz, Appalachian State University