These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
62% Still Favor Death Penalty for Fort Hood Killer
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Voters are now more inclined to view the November 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Texas as a criminal act rather than terrorism, but they feel just as strongly that the Muslim U.S. Army major charged with the killings should be executed if convicted in his upcoming trial.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters think Major Nadal Malik Hasan should receive the death penalty if he is found guilty. Hasan is charged with murdering 13 people and wounding 32 others. Sixteen percent (16%) say Hasan should not be given the death penalty if convicted. Another 21% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here .)
These findings are little changed from those just after the shootings took plac e .
At that time, however, 60% of voters thought the incident should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act, while just 27% felt it should be handled by civilian authorities as a criminal act. Now 38% of voters view the incident as a terrorist act, while 45% see it as a criminal one. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided.
A Senate report released last week found that government agencies failed to respond to numerous overt warning signs that Hasan was a potential risk and that political correctness was a primary reason for this. Only 15% of voters think political correctness did not prevent the military from responding to warning signs from Hasan. Forty-four percent (44%) believe political correctness was a factor, but that's down from 63% shortly after the killings . A sizable 41% now are not sure whether political correctness was at play or not.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on February 8-9, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
An Army panel late last month reportedly determined that Hasan is sane and fit to stand trial , but no date has yet been set.
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters are at least somewhat concerned that the shootings at Fort Hood will prompt a backlash against Muslims serving in the military, down from 57% in early November 2009. Forty-eight percent (48%) don't share that concern. These findings include 12% who are Very Concerned about a backlash and 11% who are Not At All Concerned.
Seventy-two percent (72%) say they have followed recent news reports about the Fort Hood shootings, but that includes just 29% who are following Very Closely.
A plurality (45%) of male voters says the Fort Hood incident was a terrorist act, while 50% of female voters view it as a criminal one. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republicans see the shootings as terrorism, while 60% of Democrats and 49% of voters not affiliated with either party regard them as a criminal act.
Republicans and unaffiliateds favor the death penalty for Hasan if he is convicted much more than Democrats do. Older voters support the death penalty more than those who are younger.
Men feel much more strongly than women that political correctness prevented the military from stopping Hasan in time. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Republicans and the plurality (42%) of unaffiliated voters agree. Most Democrats (56%) are not sure.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of those in President Obama's party are concerned about a possible backlash against other Muslims in uniform; 64% of GOP voters are not. Unaffiliated voters are narrowly divided on the question.
Mainstream voters tend to think political correctness was a factor in not preventing the shootings and favor the death penalty for Hasan. Those in the Political Class largely dismiss the idea of political correctness and are much less supportive of executing the suspected shooter if he is convicted.
Most Americans continue to support the death penalty , but they have mixed feelings about its effectiveness in preventing crime.
Voters overwhelmingly think terrorism is a bigger threat to the country than traditional wars.
While there's also little change in the number of voters who think the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror, the number who feel the terrorists are winning has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years.
In November 2009, 26% of employed adults told Rasmussen Reports that they have worked with someone they seriously thought was capable of mass violence