To execute or not to execute? Examining public support for capital punishment of sex offenders

In the 1990s, states enacted a plethora of new “get tough” laws targeting sex crime. These included extending the death penalty—a punishment typically reserved for murderers—to convicted sex offenders. Little attention, however, has been given to explaining why these tougher responses emerged and, in particular, whether the public supported extending the use of the death penalty to sex offenders. The goal of this paper was to examine whether public perceptions about executing sex offenders accorded with the punitive shift in policy and, more broadly, to contribute to scholarship on the death penalty. To this end, this paper examined data from a 1991 national public opinion poll, conducted just prior to the punitive shift in sex crime policies. The study found that views about executing sex offenders depended heavily on whether the victim was a child, that support for executing sex offenders was substantially lower than for executing murderers, and that few social and demographic divides differentially predicted support for executing sex offenders versus murderers. Implications of the study are discussed.

Research Highlights
► An unprecedented number of sex offender laws emerged in the 1990s, despite a consistent decline in both official reports and victim accounts of sex crime.
► Virtually no empirical attention has been given to explaining why these tougher laws emerged and, in particular, whether Americans supported extending the use of capital punishment, a sanction typically reserved for murderers, to sex offenders.
► The goal of this paper was to examine whether public perceptions about executing sex offenders accorded with the punitive shift in policy and, more broadly, to contribute to scholarship on the death penalty.
► To this end, this paper examined data from a 1991 national public opinion poll, conducted just prior to the punitive shift in sex crime policies.
► The study found that perceptions about executing sex offenders depended on whether the victim was a child, that support for executing sex offenders was substantially lower than for executing murderers, and that few social and demographic divides differentially predicted support for executing sex offenders versus murderers.