The Daily Caller, a conservative media outlet with over 10 million unique views a month, published an op-ed of mine last night titled Conservatives are rethinking the death penalty. I explain how the national death penalty dialogue is changing and why many conservatives are opposing the death penalty. I said,
This [conservative] momentum shouldn’t surprise anyone because the death penalty is ridden with failures that run contrary to conservative thinking. Conservatives believe in limiting the power of the state and protecting innocent lives. Reconciling capital punishment with these basic conservative principles is difficult; over 140 individuals have been exonerated after being sentenced to death.
I went on to say,
Conservatives also believe in putting a stop to runaway government spending, and the dramatically increased cost of the death penalty, versus life-without-parole, is antithetical to fiscal prudence.