At a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002, polling data was released to the press and general public as part of Death Penalty Awareness Day. A summary of the data is below.

Survey Background

• Data was collected in January, 2002 by Schapiro Research Group, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia for their Georgia Legislative Poll. Questions about a halt on executions were asked
• 500 registered Georgia voters were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone
• Respondents were stratified to represent the state’s population both geographically and demographically
• The poll has a margin of error of 4.5%

Survey Results

The poll suggests that a majority of Georgia voters would support a moratorium on executions if they knew that there were problems with the death penalty’s application. This is particularly true when respondents are asked to reflect on the issue of indigent defense and on questions about the number of people exonerated from the nation’s death rows.

• 54% would support a temporary halt in order to determine whether the death penalty is fairly applied if they knew that the vast majority of people on death row could not afford a private attorney, 28% would oppose
  
• 65% would support a temporary halt on executions in order to identify problems with the death penalty if they knew that nearly 100 people on death row have been released from prison since 1973 because they were found to be innocent, 20% would oppose