I was recently a guest on Talking Out Loud with A.L. Cooper, while I was in Florida speaking with conservative and libertarian groups about the death penalty. On Talking Out Loud, I discussed, at length, the many failures and dangers of capital punishment. You can hear the full segment here.
Death row exoneree, Ray Krone, joined the NAACP‘s Rev. Butler, Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty‘s Stacy Rector, and Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s Marc Hyden for an event at the University of Tennessee titled To Honor Life. The Tennessee chapter of Young Americans for Liberty hosted the many speakers who, coming from different point of views, described why today’s death penalty is utterly broken. The event was covered by NBC’s channel 10 in Knoxville. You can read about the event and watch a brief video here.
Leah Barkoukis of Townhall recent published an article on the eroding Republican support for the death penalty. Following the Gallup poll that revealed that support is faltering, Barkoukis said,
“Increasingly, however, we’re seeing a growing divide on the Right over capital punishment—a debate that intensified after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma earlier this year.”
She went on to say,
“More interesting though is the fact that support among Republicans dropped 5 percentage points in just one year.
“I personally favored the death penalty until I took a closer look and realized it simply could not coexist with my conservative values,” Marc Hyden, national coordinator for Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty, said in a statement. “I have traveled across the country talking to thousands of conservatives over the last year. Many of them have changed their views and many more are voicing strong concerns.””
Cathy Reisenwitz from the Liberty Briefing reported on the latest Gallup poll on the death penalty. While it showed that support for capital punishment across the nation remained at roughly the same level, Republican support dropped by 9% in two decades and 5% in one year. She said,
“That’s part of why Marc Hyden, national coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, changed his mind about the issue.
“I personally favored the death penalty until I took a closer look and realized it simply could not coexist with my conservative values,” Hyden said in a recent statement.
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.
“I have traveled across the country talking to thousands of conservatives over the last year,” Hyden said. “Many of them have changed their views and many more are voicing strong concerns, and the conservative media is now routinely covering the conservative case against the death penalty.”
Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty (CCATDP) is entering Fall with a full head of steam. National leaders like Ramesh Ponnuru are speaking out against the death penalty, CCATDP is taking part in criminal justice discussions across the United States, and the media is helping us spread the message that the capital punishment is inconsistent with conservatism.
Conservatives Concerned in the Media
Our media successes continued into September and October. We were featured in a variety of publications and news outlets. Here are some of my favorites.
The Transylvania Times reported on the North Carolina Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty, our work nationally, and the release of two men from prison who were previously sentenced to death. The reporter wrote, “Marc Hyden…told the News & Observer, “North Carolina is attempting to resume executions, but this should serve as a prominent example as to why states need to think twice.” Hyden said the death penalty has high human and financial costs and does not serve as a deterrent to murder.”
I was a guest on CBS’s radio show, Nightside with Dan Rae. Dan broadcasts from Boston, but his show is heard in 38 states – all of which were able to hear why conservatives are increasingly turning against the death penalty. If you missed the show, you can listen to it here.
I was interviewed by Caleb Brown for the Cato Institute‘s daily podcast while I was in Denver for the State Policy Network‘s annual meeting. We discussed issues surrounding the death penalty and why capital punishment is inconsistent with conservative values. You can listen to the entire podcast here.
The Transylvania Times, out of North Carolina, described the growing changes locally in the death penalty debate. The author highlighted the many prominent conservatives in North Carolina who are speaking out against capital punishment. The author also mentioned the national work Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty is doing, stating:
Marc Hyden, who runs the national conservative campaign against the death penalty, told the News & Observer, “North Carolina is attempting to resume executions, but this should serve as a prominent example as to why states need to think twice.” Hyden said the death penalty has high human and financial costs and does not serve as a deterrent to murder.
After spending 31 years on death row, Henry Lee McCollum recently became the 146th person to be sentenced to death and later released because he was wrongly convicted. This comes at a time when North Carolina is attempting to resume executions after an 8-year hiatus.
The North Carolina Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty has been very active in educating North Carolinians on the death penalty’s failures. Conservatives in Kansas are making waves too. The Kansas GOP dropped its support for the death penalty from its official platform while the Kansas Republican Liberty Caucus took a position against the death penalty.
The Liberty Coalition, an organization that works to help organize, support, and coordinate transpartisan public policy activities related to civil liberties and basic human rights, formed a partnership with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty.
Liberty Coalition’s co-founder, Michael Ostrolenk said, “The United States government has perverted the relationship between the citizen and the State. We now have warrantless surveillance, militarized police and indefinite detention.
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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