Colleen Eren
Associate Professor Of Sociology And Criminal Justice, William Paterson University Of New Jersey
Key Findings
- Since 2000, there has been a decrease in the death row population that led to a 40-year low in public support of the death penalty (around 63%) in 2014.
- By aligning with the larger movement against mass incarceration, the anti-death penalty movement had access to more resources to build their cause.
- Changing the frame of the conversation from a moralistic argument to one that focuses on crime prevention, financial responsibility, and the victim helped decrease public support for the death penalty.
- Proponents of victim’s rights in the death penalty were largely White at many different levels of the movement.
Description
In the article, “The Right Anti-Death Penalty Movement? Framing Abolitionism for the Twenty-First Century,” Eren examines the changes in public perception of the death penalty since 2000 due to the work by death penalty abolitionists. Since 2000, there has been a decrease in the death row population that led to a 40-year low in public support of the death penalty (around 63%) in 2014. By becoming aligned with the larger movement against mass incarceration, the anti-death penalty movement had access to more financial resources and could employ more support than the volunteers they had to rely on previously. Eren notes the change in framing the conversation from a moralistic argument to one that focuses on crime prevention, financial responsibility, and the victim, helped decrease public support for the death penalty. Eren notes the impact of race in shaping the anti-death penalty movement, with the proponents of victim’s rights in the death penalty being largely White at many different levels of the movement. Eren notes that in the future, the anti-death penalty movement should work towards including more minority voices that are directly being impacted by the death penalty and mass incarceration.