There’s a renewed push to repeal the Nevada death penalty, and the effort to do so has generated considerable media attention. Recently, Jason Hopkins from the conservative outlet Townhall interviewed me about the recent developments and the conservative movement to end capital punishment.
Hopkins pointed out how members of the political right are increasingly opposing the death penalty:
It can be surmised that the shellacking local Democrats took this election cycle means death penalty repeal will be put on hold.
Not so fast.
A growing chorus of conservative outlets are voicing their concern about the death penalty. Capital punishment, they say, is costly, the system is cumbersome, and the practice risks the execution of innocent individuals.
He also included portions of his interview with me. Hopkins wrote,
Townhall spoke exclusively with Marc Hyden, the national coordinator of Conservatives Concerned About The Death Penalty, regarding the legislation in Nevada and efforts nationwide to end the death penalty.
“The states moving closer to repeal are, in fact, conservative ones. In the past few years, we have seen repeal legislation from state Republican legislators in 12 different states. The Nebraska legislature voted to end the practice, despite a voter referendum overturning it. We came very close in Utah this year. We could possibly see movement to repeal in Montana, Kansas, and Utah. We will go back to the drawing board next go-around.”
Hyden, who identified as pro-life, argues that allowing the death penalty to continue endures the risk of executing innocent people – something that has already happened before. Limiting punishment to life imprisonment is the best possible avenue for crimes considering mistakes are possible within the justice system.
Hyden also points to the fiscal sustainability of the death penalty. States are paying to keep the practice afloat while its practice is seemingly fruitless. “In Nevada’s case, they are paying a lot of money for a system that is not even executing people,” he stated.