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Who We Are

Conservatives Concerned is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values.

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Why we are concerned

For decades, governments have tinkered with the death penalty in an effort to make it fair, accurate, and effective. Yet the system continues to fail.

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Violence Survivor: Jennifer Thompson

In 1984, I was raped at knifepoint in my home in North Carolina. I did not know whether I would live or die that night. But in 1995, Ronald Cotton requested a DNA test. And the results proved he was innocent.

The death penalty fails victims’ families

The longer process prolongs the pain of victims’ families, who must relive their trauma as courts repeat trials and hearings trying to get it right. Most cases result in a life sentence in the end anyway – but only after the family has suffered years of uncertainty. To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure – but the death penalty is just the opposite.

Pro-Life, Anti-Death Penalty

Hear what pro-life advocates have to say about the death penalty.

What conservatives are saying

I first supported the death penalty until I found out how many innocent individuals were being killed and how costly it was on the taxpayers. In a free and just society, we should always strive to protect life, most especially all innocent life. And, ultimately, it costs the taxpayers more to put a man to death than keeping him locked up for life. So after studying the issue, I now strongly oppose the death penalty.

Jeff Frazee

Founder and Chairman, Young Americans for Liberty

Conservatives have every reason to believe the death penalty system is no different from any politicized, costly, inefficient, bureaucratic, government-run operation, which we conservatives know are rife with injustice. But here the end result is the end of someone’s life. In other words, it’s a government system that kills people.

Richard Viguerie

Advisor to President Ronald Reagan

As a Pro Life advocate I have serious concerns about the protection of life from the womb to natural death. As a conservative who believes our government has been infiltrated by widespread government corruption. I find it impossible for them to make life and death judgments against any human person. I believe in fair consequences for our actions, I believe in justice, I do not believe that justice ever equals state sanctioned death. This is why I believe all conservatives should be concerned about the death penalty.

Abby Johnson

Pro-Life Activist & Best Selling Author

I believe that support for the death penalty is inconsistent with libertarianism and traditional conservatism. So I am pleased with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s efforts to form a coalition of libertarians and conservatives to work to end capital punishment.

Dr. Ron Paul

Former Congressman and GOP Presidential candidate

Conservatives Concerned brings an important perspective to the table for center-right voters and elected officials. They offer a pathway to principled debate for those who believe in the sanctity of life and others who are concerned about a system that makes mistakes in one of every eight capital cases. Whether one is for or against the death penalty, informed discussion is critical to ensuring America has a just and fair criminal justice system.

David Safavian

COO of Unify.Us

“While wrongful convictions occur all too often in our criminal justice system, they can sometimes be righted through appeals or new evidence. But when a wrongful capital punishment is carried out, it cannot be corrected. Modern DNA forensic science has demonstrated that hundreds of innocent people have been executed. Human life is sacred to us and we can no longer support the use of capital punishment.”

Tim & Randi Hutchinson

Former U.S. Senator & Senior Fellow for American Conservative Union; Counsel for Government Relations, Greenberg Traurig LLP

The death penalty is too perilous to risk to human error.

Bruce Fein

Associate Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel to the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan

I used to support the death penalty, but I oppose it now. It gives the state too much power, it actually cost more money than life in prison without parole, and the government sometimes sentences innocent people to death.

Julie Borowski

Political commentator and author

The death penalty runs a dangerously high risk of killing innocent people, siphons billions of dollars from the public, and gives the government power it cannot be trusted to carry out fairly.

Jeffrey Tucker

Founder, Author, and President at Brownstone Institute

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