Let's hope Arnold does the right thing and denies clemency. There is no "state-wide" massive majority of support for this murderous thug. If Arnold caves to these pathetic freaks, he's not worthy of re-election, or of my money should he make any future films. I do understand however, that he is going to hear the lawyers on both sides as they give him their scoop. That's fair and I don't find anything wrong with that.
FIELD POLL / 68% of California residents still support death penalty
excerpted..
Friday, March 5, 2004
Californians' support for the death penalty has dropped since the 1980s, but residents still back capital punishment for serious crimes by more than 2-1, the Field Poll reported today. The survey also found support, though by a lesser margin, for the proposition that the death penalty has been implemented fairly in the state, where 10 prisoners have been executed since California resumed the death penalty in 1992.
The poll, conducted among a cross-section of 958 registered voters last month, found that 68 percent agreed that the death penalty "should be kept as a punishment for serious crimes,'' 26 percent disagreed, and 6 percent had no opinion.
The previous Field Poll, in 2002, found support for the death penalty at 72 percent. A Field Poll in 2000 reported 63 percent support - a 30-year low - during a period of revelations about DNA tests freeing innocent inmates from death rows in other states, and Illinois Gov. George Ryan calling a moratorium on executions in his state. That result followed a trend of declining support for capital punishment from the peak of 83 percent in the mid-1980s.
"Opinion has stabilized to about seven in 10,'' said poll director Mark DiCamillo. "The public is instinctively in favor of the death penalty, but there are times when they waver a bit. ...Now that the news (about the Illinois governor) has gotten off the front page, it's settling back to an average of a little higher level of support.''