We’re still abuzz from our exciting launch last month at the CPAC 2013 conference. Grassroots leaders from Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, and Montana joined our national coordinators at the conference. Our booth was swamped with supporters. Over and over, we heard: “Where have you been for so long? I thought I was the only conservative who supported repealing the death penalty.” Our supporter list grew more than tenfold over those two days, and we talked to so many others who wanted to follow up. The reaction of CPAC attendees – those young and old, from north and south, men and women – confirmed what we already knew: conservatives do not universally support the death penalty. Far from it! Our ranks of conservatives who are openly questioning capital punishment is increasing. But don’t take it from us! U.S. News and World Report covered our launch, saying that the stereotype of conservative support for the death penalty “no longer holds true.” The piece continues: Several bigger names have also jumped aboard the CCADP team, including Jay Sekulow, a top litigator of free speech and religious liberty cases. Sekulow tells Whispers he’s been concerned abou

CONSERVATIVES CONCERNED ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY TO BE AT CPAC ST. LOUIS Conservative group to highlight the flaws in America’s death penalty September 23, 2013 – Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national network of conservatives questioning the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles, will be an exhibitor at CPAC St. Louis in the St. Charles Convention Center on September 28th. “We are looking forward to building on the momentum of when we debuted at CPAC 2013 in National Harbor, MD,” said Marc Hyden, a national coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. “Many conservatives keep telling us they are questioning whether the expensive, error-prone, and endless death penalty system fits with their beliefs in limited government, basic justice, fiscal restraint, and a right to life.” Conservatives Concerned About the Death has the support of such leading conservatives as Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center, Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, Dr. Ron Paul, former Congressman and GOP Presidential candidate, and Richard A. Viguerie, who is known as “The Funding Father” of the modern conservativ

Our national debut at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March was a huge success. Thank you to all who were part of it. Our CPAC booth was the busiest in our row. Hundreds of supporters visited us and expressed their support. Many asked, “Where have you been for so long? I thought I was the only conservative that supports repealing the death penalty.” Jay Sekulow, one of our national supporters, said the same thing in the U.S. News and World Report story that covered our launch. One visitor dropped the bags and materials he was carrying as soon as he saw us, expressing his emotion and gratitude for our presence. The warm welcome we got at CPAC confirmed what we already knew: uniform conservative support for the death penalty is a myth. That’s why we formed Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty: to shatter that myth and talk about the death penalty from a conservative perspective. A number of proponents of the death penalty who visited our booth walked away our newest allies. We talked to them about the real risk of executing innocent people, its high cost and inefficiency as a government program, and the program’s other across-the-board failures. Most

The New Republic’s recent article details Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty’s launch at CPAC. Many people in the exhibit hall that afternoon agreed that the death penalty—when described as the purest manifestation of state power and free spending run amok—had probably outlived its usefulness.

Yesterday, All Right Magazine published a piece written by Ian Huyett. Ian described Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s reception at CPAC, “When Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty made its striking debut at CPAC 2013, its booth was overwhelmed with hundreds of conservative supporters. To the group’s members, this warm hospitality “confirmed what we already knew” about conservatives and the death penalty.” Ian Huyett went on to describe conservative philosophy and why conservatism and capital punishment cannot coincide in America, “Conservatism, then, does not merely reject the ideas which make possible today’s system of capital punishment. It might even be said to have originated in opposition to the death penalty. Conservative calls to reform this wasteful and systemically unjust arrangement should then be seen, not as a peculiarity, but a welcome return to tradition.”

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW CONSERVATIVE GROUP TAKES CONCERNS ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY ON THE ROAD The group will make its second national appearance at the Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention as questions about the death penalty grow in conservative circles May 3, 2013 – Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national network of conservatives questioning the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles, will be at the 10th Biennial Convention of the Republican Liberty Caucus (May 10-12, Austin, TX). Conservative republicans from around the nation will be on hand at the group’s exhibition booth to connect with people who are taking another look at America’s system of capital punishment. “Liberty-minded republicans want to limit the power of government and the death penalty is a government program that has the real potential of killing innocent Americans,” said Pat Monks, Republican Chair, Precinct 718 of Harris County, Texas and a founding member of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. More than 140 individuals in the U.S. have been released from death row after evidence of innocence was discovered. Conservatives Concerned About

Jonathan Meritt of Religion New Service reported on Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty’s upcoming debut at CPAC 2013. “The group is assembling a diverse group of supporters, but perhaps most surprising among the early list is Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, and Richard Viguerie, known as the “Funding Father” of the conservative movement.” He went on to say, “[O]ne has to wonder if this new effort signals the genesis of a renewed debate in the coming years. If you ask me, it is a conversation too few conservatives are actually having. And one that’s far too important to avoid.” Fortunately, more and more conservatives are having this conversation now, and the launch of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty will surely bring the dialogue to a wider conservative audience.

An article I wrote was published by the conservative outlet, IJ Review. In the piece, I outlined the original launch of Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty and described how capital punishment has changed in 4 short years. I wrote, In early 2013, my group Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty (CCATDP) launched at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). While we entered CPAC supported by nationally known conservative stalwarts like Richard Viguerie and Jay Sekulow, at first, some viewed us as a bit of a novelty organization. At the time, conservative-led criminal justice reform was still a relatively new concept, and scrutinizing capital punishment’s many failures from a conservative perspective wasn’t regularly conducted at the national level. Despite this, we ultimately experienced widespread acceptance and incredible success at our first CPAC, and the success of this work has only grown since. Conservatives have been some of the death penalty’s most vocal opponents recently, which has contributed to capital punishment’s decline, and there are many metrics by which we can measure the death penalty’s slow demise: Understanding wh

Yesterday, the conservative publication, The Daily Caller, published an article of mine. In the op-ed, I explained that Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty will be returning to CPAC for a fourth year in a row, and I highlighted the many ways that the death penalty landscape has changed just in the past year. I wrote, As the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) approaches, it is important to be reminded of what conservatism really is. More than anything, it is about commonsense pragmatism and an uncompromising adherence to our core principles, including valuing life and promoting fiscal responsibility and limited government. Increasingly, capital punishment has been viewed through these principles since Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty launched at CPAC in 2013. Since then, it’s been remarkable to observe how the death penalty conversation has shifted. Between Nebraska’s death penalty repeal, executions and death sentences reaching historic lows, an influx of conservative legislators sponsoring repeal, and a host of local conservative groups springing up to end the death penalty, the narrative has undeniably changed.  

Kim Bellware from the Huffington Post has been following Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty, and recently she interviewed CCATDP’s Heather Beaudoin and me to discuss why more conservatives are opposing the death penalty. Bellware wrote, Since its formation, CCADP has had a booth at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual gathering of conservative activists known for its big-name speakers and lively exhibition hall. “We were really nervous our first time going about the reception we would receive,” Hyden’s co-coordinator, Heather Beaudoin, said. “Now, we’re seen as a welcome part of the establishment, which is really interesting. No one questions whether or not we belong and we’ve shown that there are lot of conservatives who are concerned about the death penalty.” She went on to say, A Pew Research survey published this month indicates support for capital punishment among Republicans has fallen 10 percent in the past two decades. While the decline appears gradual, Gallup Poll numbers show that Republican support for the death penalty dropped 5 percent from 2013 to 2014, from 81 percent to 76 percent. Nowhere is the shifting attitude more apparent