U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty

United to end the death penalty. FKA 8th Amendment Project.
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[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

🚨Governor Newsom just took a historic step toward ending the death penalty in California. By commuting the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, he is choosing public safety without sacrificing our humanity.
Thank you @CAgovernor. We’re proud to stand alongside you.

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Finally, support for the death penalty is trending downward, irrespective of political party identification.

Among Democrats, support for capital punishment has plummeted from 75% support in 1994 to 28% this October. That's a 47 percentage point fall off — a decline in support that nearly equals today's total level of support for the death penalty.

Among Independents, support has plunged from 81% in 1988 to 50% this October, a 31 percentage point decline. And that masks the reality that there has been an infusion of conservative-leaning Americans to the ranks of Independents, as conservative former Democrats left the party in response to its perceived leftward shift and traditional Republicans became independents in response to the MAGA takeover of the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and Reagan.

Further, even with the rightward shift in the Republican base, support for capital punishment has declined among those currently identifying as Republican. 90% of Republicans in the 1988 Gallup poll and 89% in the 1995 poll said they favored the death penalty. That is down 17 percentage points to 73% today.

That decline is a bit more complicated, however — Republican support for the death penalty also measured at 73% in 2011. Support then spiked to 82% during Donald Trump's first run for the presidency in 2016, returned to 72% after the presidential election and spiked back up to 82% as the 2020 presidential election approached. Support ping-ponged between 77%-81% between 2021 and 2025 before falling 8 percentage points in the past year.

An Economist/YouGov poll released in October reported that 80% of those who identified themseves as MAGA Republicans supported the death penalty while support among traditional Republicans measured at 70%. https://t.co/P91WhxOTHp The level of death penalty support among Republicans going forward is likely to depend upon whether in veers further rightward in lockstep with the Trump administration's extremism or returns toward more traditionally conservative positions. @uscedp @CCATDP @RightOnCrime

Gallup in its 2024 poll found that younger Republicans, as with younger Independents and Democrats, were moving away from capital punishment. If those younger Republicans stay with the party, support for capital punishment is likely to decline. If they find the party's positions to be too extreme and become Independents, then Republican endorsement of the death penalty is likely to remain higher and Independent opposition to capital punishment is likely to continue to rise.

All of this, of course, is subject to Yogi Berra's caution against forecasting future events. Recognizing that “The future ain't what it used to be,” he warned: “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

[Laura Burstein @LauraBurstein1]

Tennessee’s failed executions will now factor into lawsuit challenging lethal injection protocol https://t.co/msmGabn8gH

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Florida has executed Jesse Guardado. Here's some background — Jesse Guardado will be latest Florida Dozier boy to be executed. https://t.co/SWWL5fY6A0 @TDOnline @USATODAY @cabridges @FLDeathPenalty @FADPorg @uscedp #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Gavin Newsom Issues Commutations for All 548 Californians Facing Execution. https://t.co/by2G91HlGh @MarshallProj @MauriceChammah @Jill_Castellano @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp #California #deathpenalty

[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

📣 Governor Gavin Newsom just announced plans to commute all death sentences in California! Send him a thank you message today: https://t.co/sCl3KmKkNE

@RDunhamDP @amnestyusa @ellabakercenter @NAACP_LDF @helenprejean @WCADP

[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

Read the governor's statement here: https://t.co/8Uo3sLPlkF?

[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

🚨Governor Newsom just took a historic step toward ending the death penalty in California. By commuting the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, he is choosing public safety without sacrificing our humanity.
Thank you @CAgovernor. We’re proud to stand alongside you.

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Indiana uses secret execution drug supplier it accuses of shoddy practices, lawyers say. Indiana purchased its lethal injection drugs for an upcoming execution from a pharmacy at risk of having its license revoked. https://t.co/8TI6Tovt6I @indystar @catecharron @INAbolition @ACLU_IND @incatholicconf @CCATDP @uscedp @Reprieve @amnesty @pharmacists @Pharmaneek @WorthRises @rcfp #JeffreyWeisheit #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Letters from @amnestyusa, a rabbi, and a crime victim’s family member urging @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom to commute California’s death row — “The death penalty won’t bring my brother back.” https://t.co/Rj6KI2NBa9 @latimes @Journey0fHope @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Execution secrecy tests the public's First Amendment rights. https://t.co/XQqcoI8rxE @USATODAY @brieannafrank @rcfp @lawproflain @DPInfoCtr @POGOwatchdog @uscedp @CCATDP #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

The @TMI_LDF has posted this story about the Legal Defense Fund's historic efforts that led to U.S. death penalty statutes being struck down in Furman v. Georgia — The Legal War Against the Death Penalty. https://t.co/AOjNjRjvWt @NAACP_LDF @uscedp

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Putting death row in the rear view mirror: Debra Milke finds her purpose as a ‘survivor.’ https://t.co/8APBYt0H7t @ArizonaMirror @michaelbkiefer @WTIUSA @innocence @DPA_Arizona @ArizonaJP @uscedp #Arizona #deathpenalty

[Robert Dunham @RDunhamDP]

Christa Pike makes first public comments since failed execution: ‘There is pain in my mind and in my soul.’ https://t.co/3sC5DvDx9H @guardian @Edpilkington @Tndeathpenalty @uscedp @nationalnow #Tennessee #deathpenalty

[Laura Burstein @LauraBurstein1]

.@Tennessean: Tennessee paid $1.2M for execution drugs amid secrecy, failures: exclusive https://t.co/cVGUeaPNXn

[FADP @FADPorg]

NEW from @AlexLDeLuca @washingtonpost https://t.co/brUpvFY3IM

[Laura Burstein @LauraBurstein1]

BRKG ATTY STMT: AL Gov. commutes #ToforestJohnson’s death sentence. “We are grateful to Governor Ivey for diligently reviewing Toforest’s case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution.” More here: https://t.co/auFkHSmHjf

[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

🚨 Toforest Johnson will not be executed after 25+ years on death row!

He has long maintained his innocence, and the Governor of Alabama just granted him clemency. The courts reviewing his pending appeals will now decide whether his conviction should be overturned.

[Laura Burstein @LauraBurstein1]

BRKG ATTY STMT: AL Gov. commutes #ToforestJohnson’s death sentence. “We are grateful to Governor Ivey for diligently reviewing Toforest’s case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution.” More here: https://t.co/auFkHSmHjf

[ChasingKarma44 @ChasingKarma44]

Just signed this petition to support clemency for Ernest Suggs, an innocent man on Florida's death row. The victim's own daughter believes he didn't do it.

Add your name here: https://t.co/gR26miz4DM
#deathpenalty @uscedp @FADPorg

[Jon Crane @JonCraneTV]

"...a state that executes its own veterans and its most mentally and physically broken citizens has lost sight of what justice requires," said dozens of Latino Evangelical leaders in Florida. https://t.co/qUFm7sHWaX

[U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty @uscedp]

Great piece by @anitachabria on mercy, moral courage, and the "struggle for the soul of America" as Gov. Newsom weighs clemency for everyone on California's death row https://t.co/8540RXBTsv

[Anita Chabria @anitachabria]

Commentary: The U.S is in the death business. Newsom can change that, and win votes https://t.co/zx9BpMDkjR