In two short months, 2021 has already seen quite the flurry of activity around death penalty repeal.
Virginia repealed their system in full, and there are several others at their heels.
This week, Wyoming, Georgia, and Ohio all saw bipartisan bills introduced to repeal their own systems. On top of that, federal legislation has been introduced with 17 sponsors and counting.
It’s undeniable the momentum is on our side. And it’s easy to see why.
The death penalty is a huge opportunity cost that makes our society less safe. It’s extremely expensive (and not because it takes too long, try again), and it provides no deterrent effect. That means we waste millions on a system that doesn’t improve public safety, instead of spending those resources on intervention programs that actually work, or on solving more crimes – which we’re really bad at.
The death penalty wastes resources and makes us less safe while also constantly risking innocent lives. Just recently, 11 more people were added to the exoneration list – making it one person exonerated from death row for every eight executions. Yikes.
As states struggle to pay their bills in the wake of government lockdowns and the pandemic, the death penalty is an obvious expense to cut. Americans have had enough of this embarrassing and outdated practice.
Be sure to contact your representatives and let them know you support this movement!
