Yesterday, an article I wrote for the Albuquerque Journal was published. I penned it in response to Governor Martinez’s decision to attempt to reinstate the New Mexico death penalty. I explained,
Last week, Gov. Susana Martinez expressed her desire to reinstate the New Mexico death penalty. While she’s a leader in many ways, Martinez is an outlier when it comes to capital punishment. Conservative and liberal states are moving away from it.
Executions are at a 20-year low and death sentences are at a 40-year low. Furthermore, Republicans are increasingly spearheading efforts to end the death penalty.
The Nebraska legislature voted to abolish capital punishment. The Utah Senate did the same and conservatives have sponsored repeal bills in more than a half-dozen states.
Moreover, public opinion is starkly turning against capital punishment. Just in the past month, polls have shown that the majority of Kentuckians, Floridians and Oklahomans prefer alternatives to the death penalty. I suspect New Mexicans likely feel the same because they understand what is at stake.
There are many reasons why she shouldn’t try to reintroduce capital punishment:
The death penalty is a failed government program that is antithetical to conservative values. It unnecessarily imperils innocent people, costs far more than the alternatives, and it fails to achieve its purported objectives of protecting society and providing justice to murder victims’ families.
Moreover, most conservatives are wary of government power. Should we really trust the state with the authority to kill its citizens when its track record is one of mistakes and sometimes abuse? No.
Martinez is well-intentioned but misinformed in her quest to bring back the death penalty and she is clearly swimming against the current. Conservatives repeal broken, wasteful government programs. We don’t reinstate them.
Interested in becoming involved in New Mexico? Send me an email at info@conservativesconcerned.org!