FOR ALL OF ITS QUIRKS, California is no different from other states in that policy debates unfold neatly along liberal and conservative creases. Except when it comes to the death penalty. It’s the rare California issue on which a majority of Republicans and Democrats historically have agreed. A Field Poll taken in March 2004 found that 68 percent of Californians supported capital punishment. That included 87 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Democrats. In the past 35 years support for the death penalty has not dipped below 60 percent in California. Even a half-century ago 49 percent of Californians told the Field Poll they were pro-capital punishment and only 29 percent objected to it.

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