Rasmussen: 6 out of 10 Americans favor death penalty for the Boston terrorist

[Tender Branson]

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the surviving Boston marathon bombing suspect should receive the death penalty if convicted and found guilty. Just 23% oppose the death penalty in this case, while 16% more are undecided.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2013/61_favor_death_penalty_for_boston_bombing_suspect_if_convicted

[Franzl]

It's still not as bad as I would have thought.

[RogueBeaver]

Not as high as I'd have thought, similar to Franzl.

[King]

The death of the first brother was enough given the low death toll.  However, Jahar's legs should be amputated out of fairness.

[opebo]

I certainly don't mind their bloodthirstiness in this case; however it is heartbreaking that they can't extend the sentiment to their own ruling class.

[Donerail]

Proud to be in the 23%.

[Old Man Svensson]

They don't realize killing him won't change anything. The (apparent) mastermind has already been gunned down. Life in prison, in this case, would be far more miserable.

[Horus]

The first brother dying was karma enough, no need to waste all the money killing the other guy. Locking him up will be much cheaper anyways.

[H. Ross Peron]

The first brother dying was karma enough, no need to waste all the money killing the other guy. Locking him up will be much cheaper anyways.

It'd be better to limit to cases of mass murder or terrorism like this rather than for all cases of first-degree murder while ditching the long system of appeals.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's still not as bad as I would have thought.

^^^^ Good to see 40% of Americans don't cede to the blood thirst that tragedies like this always foster.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

And this is why electing the judiciary is a terrible, terrible idea.

[Lambsbread]

Proud to be in the 23%.

Same.

Also, yeah, I would've expected the number to be >70%

[bballrox4717]

Proud to be in the 23%.

[angus]

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the surviving Boston marathon bombing suspect should receive the death penalty if convicted and found guilty.

That's about what you'd expect.  Gallup has been collecting data for years on the question of capital punishment and the low 60s is the trend now for capital punishment.  Usually the question is "death penalty for murder?" but I think that translates well enough into this particular suspect and the crimes for which he has been charged.

[muon2]

And this is why electing the judiciary is a terrible, terrible idea.

I don't see the connection. The IL judiciary is elected and they are hardly agreed on the death penalty (at least when we had it).

Attempts to remove and replace judges on single issues work only rarely here. There has been single party control of the appointment process at the state for the last decade. Election at least provides for a more diverse judiciary since the judges will tend to reflect the circuits that elect them.

[Earthling]

It's Rasmussen. Why would anyone trust this poll?

[angus]

It's Rasmussen. Why would anyone trust this poll?

Precisely because it is so consistent with other polls on the broader issue of capital punishment.  It seems reasonable to me that respondents who supported the death penalty in previous polls would claim to support it in this case if he is convicted. 

[Zarn]

Put me down as a non-supporter

[Antonio the Sixth]

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the surviving Boston marathon bombing suspect should receive the death penalty if convicted and found guilty.

That's about what you'd expect.  Gallup has been collecting data for years on the question of capital punishment and the low 60s is the trend now for capital punishment.  Usually the question is "death penalty for murder?" but I think that translates well enough into this particular suspect and the crimes for which he has been charged.

Oh God, the 90s were such a horrible time.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As has been pointed out, based on what has been learned so far, I'm doubtful that there are many people who support the death penalty who would not be in favor of applying it in this case.  Indeed, at this point the only thing likely to keep him from facing a death sentence is if he can convince at least one juror that the possibility of his being an unwitting pawn of the older brother is strong enough to raise reasonable doubt.

[angus]

Oh God, the 90s were such a horrible time.

Now, now.  Friends wasn't that bad.  Just shallow. 

[opebo]

Oh God, the 90s were such a horrible time.

Now, now.  Friends wasn't that bad.  Just shallow. 

I don't really see the relevance of the Friends comment, but anyone who thinks the 90s were 'terrible' must not have seen them or mis-remembers them.  Everything's been precipitously downhill since the 1990s.

[angus]

Oh God, the 90s were such a horrible time.

Now, now.  Friends wasn't that bad.  Just shallow.  

I don't really see the relevance of the Friends comment, but anyone who thinks the 90s were 'terrible' must not have seen them or mis-remembers them.  Everything's been precipitously downhill since the 1990s.

Then you mis-remember.  Or forget.  The 90s were an embarrassment.  Dude, it was awful.  Those ghastly early-70s women's fashions coming back--halter tops were okay back when very few of the US population was obese, but seriously, didn't you spend any time in the US in the 90s?  Jeezus, girl, put a shirt over that.  Please.  The music was horrible--distortion over full chords!  Teenage angst.  Summer "thrillers."  The ubiquity of sentences ending with "not" or the adverb "not" being placed at the weirdest places, often after the verb.  Baseball players spitting in the faces of umpires.  (The advent of interleague play, while we're at it!)  And a president was impeached--over the silliest of things.  While we're on the topic of the President, and to relate it to the thread, 1992 was the only time in my life I can remember a presidential candidate flying back home to Little Rock--not once, but twice, and well publicized by his order--to witness an execution, as though he wanted to make sure everyone know how pro-capital punishment he was.  "I ain't like that redneck Jimmy Carter, y'all.  I'm a death penalty redneck, so you kin vote fer me with a clear conscience."  The Democrats are back, y'all.  Yee haaaa!

Seriously, it really was a tacky, gaudy decade, full of missteps and embarrassments.  Not that the following or previous decades were any less embarrassing--one was of greed and the other of even more greed--but I suspect that you only remember the 90s fondly because you likely spent most of the decade in Southeast Asia getting your undercarriage waxed while the rest of us stuck it here in the trenches.  

[LastVoter]

Oh God, the 90s were such a horrible time.

Now, now.  Friends wasn't that bad.  Just shallow.  

I don't really see the relevance of the Friends comment, but anyone who thinks the 90s were 'terrible' must not have seen them or mis-remembers them.  Everything's been precipitously downhill since the 1990s.

Then you mis-remember.  Or forget.  The 90s were an embarrassment.  Dude, it was awful.  Those ghastly early-70s women's fashions coming back--halter tops were okay back when very few of the US population was obese, but seriously, didn't you spend any time in the US in the 90s?  Jeezus, girl, put a shirt over that.  Please.  The music was horrible--distortion over full chords!  Teenage angst.  Summer "thrillers."  The ubiquity of sentences ending with "not" or the adverb "not" being placed at the weirdest places, often after the verb.  Baseball players spitting in the faces of umpires.  (The advent of interleague play, while we're at it!)  And a president was impeached--over the silliest of things.  While we're on the topic of the President, and to relate it to the thread, 1992 was the only time in my life I can remember a presidential candidate flying back home to Little Rock--not once, but twice, and well publicized by his order--to witness an execution, as though he wanted to make sure everyone know how pro-capital punishment he was.  "I ain't like that redneck Jimmy Carter, y'all.  I'm a death penalty redneck, so you kin vote fer me with a clear conscience."  The Democrats are back, y'all.  Yee haaaa!

Seriously, it really was a tacky, gaudy decade, full of missteps and embarrassments.  Not that the following or previous decades were any less embarrassing--one was of greed and the other of even more greed--but I suspect that you only remember the 90s fondly because you likely spent most of the decade in Southeast Asia getting your undercarriage waxed while the rest of us stuck it here in the trenches.  

Sounds like you need to escape the bad place.

[angus]

Sounds like you need to escape the bad place.

Naw, man.  No need to leave.  The Messiah showed up.  In 2008.  No partisanship.  No Blue America.  No Red America.  Hope, change, and changin' the tone in Washington, DC.  No more Bad Place.  This guy's gonna fix everything.  Or haven't you heard?