Starting in 1937, the Gallup Polling organization has run an occasional poll on U.S. attitudes towards the death penalty, Here’s the main question Gallup asks:
Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?
You can see a chart of the answer over time here. I find the question puzzling, though. Consider some of the possible interpretations. It could mean:
Are you in favor of the death penalty for every person convicted of murder?
Or,
Are you in favor of the death penalty for some people who are convicted of murder?
Or,
Are you in favor of the death penalty for people who commit particularly heinous murders?
Or,
Are you in favor of prosecutors having the option of seeking the death penalty for people who commit particularly heinous murders, if a jury first convicts and then agrees?
Obviously a poll question can’t capture every nuance. And perhaps most people would answer all of these questions the same way. Still, Gallup’s question strikes me as unusually unclear.