many Americans do not realise that life without parole is an alternative, or how long a murderer would spend in prison under such a sentence. Furthermore, they also found that many do not trust the authorities to keep killers in jail and will eventually release them. 32 These factors demonstrate how support for the death penalty can easily fluctuate and also how its highly conditional nature can be influenced by crime rates and particularly shocking events. Yet, when presented with an alternative to the death penalty support does drop suggesting a lack of support for arguments of deterrence and punishment. The modern death penalty debate no longer focuses on moral issues that were previously used by abolitionists. Instead, today the focus is far more on procedural issues, which appears to be having some success. Since 2002 national support for the death penalty has dropped as much as 10 percent. 33 Since 2007 ten states have either abolished or imposed moratoriums on the death penalty. 34 Interestingly following abolition of the death penalty in New York neighbouring states including New Jersey and Connecticut also abolished the death penalty demonstrating how states can view each other as policy labs. One of the contemporary approaches taken by abolitionists is to focus on the use of DNA in exonerating those on death row. Between 1989 and 2014, 318 people were released from long term prisons sentences, with 6 percent of 32 Radelet and Borg, ‘ The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates’ , p. 47 33 Gallup, ‘ Death Penalty’ . 34 ProCon.org, ‘ 31 States with the Death Penalty and 19 States with Death Penalty Bans’ , 2016 <http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=001 172> [accessed 24 April 2016].
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