The Death Penalty’s Failures on Display
Young Americans for Liberty 2015 PA State Convention
Conservatives to Speak Against Capital Punishment
March 12, 2015 – Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP), a national network of conservatives and libertarians questioning the alignment of capital punishment with their principles, will be presenting at the upcoming 2015 Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Pennsylvania State Convention. CCATDP is a strategic partner of YAL. It will take place on Saturday March 14th at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
Marc Hyden, the national coordinator of CCATDP, will make a presentation to the convention during the Meet the Sponsors section at 3:30 PM. He will also be available at the exhibitor’s area throughout the day.
“Liberty-minded people want to limit the power of government, including the death penalty, which is a broken government program that has the real potential of killing innocent Americans,” said Hyden. To date, more than 140 individuals have been released from death rows across America because they were wrongfully convicted.
First printed in Voices of Liberty on 3/11/2015
On Tuesday, the Utah Senate passed House Bill 11 by a vote of 18-10 to make Utah the first state to reestablish the firing squad as a method of execution. The measure would permit the use of a team of armed executioners, likely equipped with a 30-30 Winchester Model 1894, if the Utah Department of Corrections is unable to obtain the necessary lethal injection drugs. The legislation now heads to Governor Gary Herbert’s desk for his signature or veto, but their aim is off target. As they are busy tinkering with the mode of execution, they are failing to address the real issue: the capital punishment system is utterly broken beyond repair.
The death penalty poses an indisputable danger to innocent lives because capital punishment is administered by an imperfect government. To date, 150 people nationwide have been wrongly convicted, sentenced to die, and eventually released from death row. Many others have been executed despite the existence of evidence casting serious doubt on their verdicts.
I was interviewed by Reason TV while I was at CPAC over the recent push by many states to keep the source of their death penalty drugs a secret from taxpayers. The author, Anthony Fischer said,
In a conversation with Reason TV at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Hyden expressed his opposition to the increased state secrecy surrounding lethal injection drugs, and why capital punishment fails his “conservative litmus test,” because “it’s not pro-life, it’s not fiscally responsible, and it sure is not limited government.”
You can watch my interview here.
Brett LoGiurato from Fusion attended CPAC this year to find that there was a growing desire to see criminal justice reform. LoGiurato spoke with many political leaders and even CCATDP. He wrote,
But the urge on both the left and right is real. It was on full display last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where Paul spoke. Downstairs in the convention center in a sprawling area called the “CPAC Hub,” a small group of conservatives representing the organization Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty said they saw a sharp increase in foot traffic to their booth this year.
There’s no bill in front of Congress to eliminate the death penalty right now, but it’s becoming a growing issue on the right, especially on the state level. Lawmakers in six GOP-controlled state bodies have sponsored bills to repeal the death penalty amid a 5-point year-over-year drop in Republican support, according to Gallup.
LoGiurato even mentioned one person who dropped by our booth at CPAC.
Nate Madden from the Catholic News Service caught up with Kansas Governor Brownback and myself at CPAC to discuss the death penalty. Currently, a bill to repeal capital punishment is being considered. Madden wrote,
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback told Catholic News Service that he will “see what’s actually in the bill” before making any decision on whether or not to sign it, should it pass both chambers.
“I am opposed to the death penalty in cases other than where you cannot protect the society from the perpetrator,” he said in an interview Feb. 28, “but the bill is not currently drafted as I’ve explained it just now.”
Madden continued,
Marc Hyden, advocacy director for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, told CNS that “with the way the criminal justice system is now, we have a very viable option, which is life without parole.
“With the death penalty, you have a system to execute those found to be guilty. Those systems are open to corruption and abuse, like all other human systems, and innocent lives can fall through the cracks.”
Murder victims’ families, conservatives, and even liberals all gathered at the Nebraska capitol to show their support for repealing the death penalty. Nebraska is considering a bill to abolish capital punishment, bill (LB268).
According to Joanne Young from the Lincoln Star Journal,
Seven Republican state senators have signed on to Chambers’ bill that would change the penalty.
The bill has wide support from Nebraskans,
At least a dozen people testified in support of Chambers’ bill, including family members of murder victims, pastors, attorneys, a retired judge, and Matt Maly, with Nebraska Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty, who talked about the burden of death penalty cases on taxpayers.
Naureen Khan, from Al Jazeera America, attended CPAC to cover conservatism’s recent move toward criminal justice reform. As she traveled the exhibition hall, she spent time with Right on Crime, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty as well. She noted,
Indeed, criminal justice reform has gone from a niche issue in conservativism — important mainly to libertarians concerned with the government encroaching on individual rights — into the mainstream. Some on the right are pushing for the GOP to make it a signature part of conservative ideology, as much a part of the movement as reducing the debt or repealing Obamacare.
Heather Beaudoin and I were both interviewed as part of her story:
Marc Hyden, coordinator for the organization and a former campaign representative for the NRA, admitted that he was initially apprehensive about taking his new cause to conservative activists. “I was used to being kind of the darling of the conservative crowd,” he said. “I was worried that my peers might not accept me, but it was the direct opposite.
Last Friday, I returned as a guest to the Scott Horton Radio Show to discuss why conservatives are opposing the death penalty with increasing numbers and our return to CPAC. You can hear the entire segment here.
Scott Maxwell from the Orlando Sentinel interviewed Brian Empric, Vice-President of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans and myself. Brian will be attending CPAC with the Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty team and has long been opposed to capital punishment. Scott Maxwell wrote,
“There is a serious risk of executing an innocent person,” said the 39-year-old construction project manager. “You don’t get a chance to reverse that. There are other means of protecting us that are less expensive and which don’t force people in the state and on the jury to play God.”
Empric’s points run counterintuitive to many conservatives. Heck, they run counterintuitive to many people of both parties who want to see murdering scumbags put to death.
He also said,
All this helps explain why groups like Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty are growing in numbers.
“Conservatives are beginning to see that capital punishment is antithetical to many of our most deeply held principles,” said Marc Hyden, an advocacy coordinator with the national organization.
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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