A recent survey was conducted in Oklahoma to gauge locals’ support for the death penalty, and the Oklahoman reported on the poll’s findings. Reporter Silas Allen wrote,
While more than three-quarters of those polled said they supported the death penalty, about 53 percent said they’d be willing to see the state do away with capital punishment if those who would typically be sentenced to death were instead given life sentences without the possibility of parole, forfeited all property and were ordered to pay mandatory restitution to victims’ families for the rest of their lives.
But it should be noted that a plurality of Republicans also expressed their discomfort with the death penalty. Allen explained,
Support for the idea wasn’t limited to one political party: About 58 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents said they’d support the plan. About 48 percent of Republicans said they’d support it, while 41 percent said they’d oppose it and another 10.4 percent said they didn’t know.
Allen also interviewed me for the article:
Part of the reason for that shift could be a growing number of conservatives who oppose the death penalty.
Our Charles Koch Communications Fellow, Caitlin Grimes, penned an op-ed for the Libertarian Republic expressing how libertarians can be the middle ground when it comes to the death penalty.
Caitlin wrote,
In a society where many issues are viewed through the lens of the political right and left, the voice of the middle is often lost. Identifying as a libertarian can often be difficult when both sides seem unwilling to let you have a seat at the table. However, it can also be a blessing, as you can find the common ground between two very polarized sides. I find this to be especially true when it comes to the issue of the death penalty.
So where is the common ground that both sides can stand on to start what this libertarian sees as a much needed conversation on the death penalty?
She stated the reasons both the left and the right often cite for opposing the death penalty, including risk to innocent life, high cost, and racial disparities.
This morning I was a guest on Fox 35’s Good Day Orlando to explain why conservatives are turning against the death penalty in Florida and nationally. You can watch the three-minute segment here.
I recently returned as a guest to the Scott Horton Radio Show to discuss the difference between death penalty in theory and in practice. You can here the segment here.
An article I wrote was published today in the US Daily Review. In it, I described why pro-liberty activists are increasingly rejecting the death penalty.
I wrote,
For the past several years, newspapers have been increasingly peppered with headlines highlighting the many conservatives who are actively and successfully working to repeal the death penalty, but conservatives haven’t been alone in their pursuits. Certainly, this has become a bipartisan issue, but many libertarians have also joined with conservatives to end capital punishment. Considering that Ronald Reagan once said, “I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism,” it shouldn’t come as a surprise that conservatives and libertarians have easily found common ground.
Opposition to today’s death penalty provides an opportunity for conservatives and libertarians to work together and for good reason:
The death penalty is an intrusive, costly, and dangerous government program that accomplishes little. As a matter of fact, it is an unnecessary state power with mostly negative side affects. This is why libertarians are joining with conservatives in growing numbers to end capital punishment.
Election Day is rapidly approaching, and with it, the people of Nebraska will have an opportunity to retain or repeal their state legislature’s decision to abolish the death penalty. While it is impossible to predict the referendum’s outcome, the momentum to keep Nebraska’s death penalty a thing of the past is clearly growing.
Earlier this month, a jury decided that some of the individuals known as the “Beatrice Six” should be compensated $28.1 million. They were wrongfully convicted of a 1985 rape and murder in Nebraska, and after being threatened with the death penalty, five of them initially pled guilty to avoid being executed. However, it turned out that they weren’t guilty. DNA evidence was eventually discovered, which exonerated them. Years later, a jury finally recognized the need for compensation to help redress the wrongs committed against them.
This is not the only reason that the Beatrice Six is currently making headlines. Just days ago, one of the case’s prosecutors, Randall Ritnour, came out against the death penalty.
I was recently a guest on the Lions of Liberty’s Felony Friday Podcast. The host and I discussed the conservative case against the death penalty and the previously released Oklahoma grand jury report, which revealed widespread malfeasance in the Sooner State’s death penalty process. You can hear the segment below:
CCATDP’s Charles Koch Institute Communications Fellow, Caitlin Grimes, recently penned an op-ed for Red Alert Politics. In the article, she highlighted the many reasons why millennials are rejecting the death penalty. She cited the risk of executing an innocent person, faulty forensic analyses, botched executions, and capital punishment’s high cost as the key factors that influence millennials’ views on the death penalty. Caitlin wrote,
With this track record, young Americans have good reason to question giving government the permission to determine whose life is valuable and when it should be extinguished. How can we be the land of the free if we are ranked fifth in the world in number of executions?
If we are to remain the leader of the free world, we must set the example when it comes to the justice system. We must prove that we have faith in our justice system because we know that those within it are taking all measures possible to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
First printed in Voices of Liberty on 9/23/2016
Conservatives have long warned that government power combined with unnecessary state secrecy creates an environment that fosters official abuse and malfeasance, and unfortunately, Oklahoma recently validated our longstanding concerns. Recently, an Oklahoma multi-county grand jury released its findings after spending months investigating the state’s latest lethal injection fiasco, and its conclusions were appalling.
Sooner State officials have taken great efforts to shroud their lethal injection drug acquisitions in secrecy, and the negative side effects of that decision occurred as early as January 15, 2015 when Charles Warner was executed. It clearly didn’t go as planned, and the episode ultimately climaxed with Warner shouting, “My body is on fire!” before finally succumbing to death. Regrettably, his execution was just the latest in a spate of bungled attempts. Nevertheless, the state ramped up its efforts to continue executions, and Richard Glossip, a man who may be innocent, was next in line. As he nervously awaited his own death, he received a surprising last minute stay of execution because Oklahoma bureaucrats admitted they weren’t in possession of the approved chemicals.
Questioning a system marked by inefficiency, inequity, and inaccuracy.
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values.
We are a project of Equal Justice USA, a national organization working to end the death penalty in the United States.
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