As Oklahoma’s death penalty continues its descent into chaos, conservative icon Richard Viguerie weighed in on the state’s capital punishment program. Citing wrongful convictions, botched executions, and Oklahoma’s repeated attempts to execute Richard Glossip despite a lack of evidence, Viguerie called on the Sooner State to repeal the death penalty. He said,
“Oklahoma’s systemic failures and Glossip’s case in particular are emblematic of what is wrong with America’s death penalty. The death penalty’s problems are a confluence of things that all Americans loathe: a big, broken, costly and dangerous government program prone to mistakes…”
Share your concerns
Let your conservative and libertarian friends know why you and an increasing number of Americans are concerned about the death penalty. Click here to share Richard Viguerie’s op-ed on Facebook!
Conservatives Concerned in the media
CCATDP and our allies were back in the media exposing the death penalty’s many failures and sharing stories about our recent successes. Here are some of our favorites:
- The international news outlet Reuters covered CCATDP and the conservative movement to repeal the death penalty. The story was picked up by the New York Times, Yahoo!, Daily Mail, Business Insider, and many others.
- CCATDP was prominently featured in articles from the Huffington Post, Red Alert Politics, Tulsa World, Chattanooga Times Free Press, and the Cleveland Daily Banner.
- In advance of the Utah Young Americans for Liberty convention, I was a guest on Utah’s NPR radio as well as the Beehive State’s Rod Arquette radio show.
- I penned an op-ed for the Daily Caller, and in the article, I presented the conservative case for granting Duane Buck, a Texas death row inmate, a new, fair sentencing hearing. I also authored a piece for NonDoc highlighting the reasons conservative Oklahomans should be concerned about their death penalty system.
Conservatives Concerned in the field
I traveled to Cleveland, Tennessee where I spoke at an event at Cleveland State Community College. Death row exoneree, Ray Krone, and I presented to a crowded room of students who were eager to learn about Tennessee’s broken death penalty.
After my trip to Tennessee, I flew to Salt Lake City to speak at the Utah Young Americans for Liberty convention. Conservative and libertarian activists from across the region attended the event, and they expressed their concerns with the death penalty in great numbers.
Meanwhile, CCATDP’s Ben Jones journeyed to Orlando for the Florida Young Americans for Liberty convention where he also enjoyed overwhelming support from the attendees.
Upcoming
On Saturday, April 23, CCATDP will be exhibiting at the Life/Peace/Justice Conference at Villanova University in Philadelphia, where pro-life activists will be gathering to learn and take action on a variety of life issues, including the death penalty.
For the third year in a row, I will return to the North Carolina GOP convention to exhibit alongside members from the North Carolina Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty group. The event is May 6-8, and I hope to see you there!
