Cite as: 530 U. S. 156 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
alty.19 Likewise, two-thirds of the respondents in another survey stated that they would be more likely to give a life sentence instead of death if they knew the defendant had to serve at least 25 years in prison before being parole eligible.20 General public support for the death penalty also plummets when the survey subjects are given the alternative of life without parole.21 Indeed, parole ineligibility information is so important that 62.3% of potential Virginia jurors would actually disregard a judge's instructions not to consider parole eligibility when determining the defendant's sentence.22
At the same time, the recent development of parole ineligibility statutes results in confusion and misperception, such that "common sense tells us that many jurors might not know whether a life sentence carries with it the possibility
19 Hughes, Informing South Carolina Capital Juries About Parole, 44 S. C. L. Rev. 383, 409-410 (1993) (citing 1991 study by Univ. of South Carolina's Institute for Public Affairs); see also Simmons, 512 U. S., at 159 (plurality opinion) (discussing this study).
20 Paduano & Smith, Deathly Errors: Juror Misperceptions Concerning Parole in the Imposition of the Death Penalty, 18 Colum. Human Rights L. Rev. 211, 223 (1987).
21 See, e. g., Rising Doubts on Death Penalty, USA Today, Dec. 22, 1999, p. 17A (nationwide 1999 Gallup Poll finds 71% support death penalty; 56% support death penalty when life without parole is offered as an option); Finn, Given Choice, Va. Juries Vote for Life, Washington Post, Feb. 3, 1997, pp. A1, A6 ("According to a poll conducted for the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment, support for the death penalty nationwide falls from 77 percent to 41 percent if the alternative is life without parole accompanied by restitution"); Heyser, Death Penalty on the Rise in Virginia, Roanoke Times, Aug. 31, 1998, p. C3 (re-porting study by Virginia Tech's Center for Survey Research, finding that 79% of Virginians "strongly" or "somewhat" support the death penalty, a figure that drops to 57% when respondents are given the alternative of life without parole for 25 years plus restitution); Armstrong & Mills, Death Penalty Support Erodes, Many Back Life Term as an Alternative, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 7, 2000, p. 1 (58% of Illinois registered voters support death penalty; only 43% favor death when given option of life without parole).
22 See Note, 75 Va. L. Rev., at 1624-1625, and n. 103.
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