The Blot’s Noah Zuss spoke with me recently to discuss the conservative case against the death penalty for a story he was writing. Zuss wrote,
Among coastal liberals, there is the assumption that conservatives all believe in the same things: guns, God and hating the federal government. But on the death penalty, which was once a wedge issue between Democrats and Republicans, over the past decade, there has evolved more bipartisan opposition.
When presenting the argument against capital punishment, I simply said,
“[It’s] not pro-life, fiscally responsible or representative of limited government,” he said. “It fails to deter crime, harms murder victims’ friends and family members.”
But the death penalty fails to provide any real benefits, which were outlined in the article:
“I don’t think it can be effective as a deterrent or to serve murder victims’ friends and family members the way it’s run now,” Hyden said. “A program designed to kill guilty U.S. citizens, it has to be perfect because there is zero margin for error.” He added that those family members are often called to testify multiple times. “That can be very traumatizing because they live some of the worst moments of their lives over and over again.”
I did, however, mention how I used to be a death penalty proponent:
“I used to support the death penalty for a long time,” Hyden said. “I’m a conservative, and for the longest time, I thought that’s what conservatives were supposed to do. Once I started examining it and comparing it to the principles that I hold dear, I found there was no leg to stand on.”
Zuss closed by writing,
“The reason people support the death penalty, the No. 1 reason is revenge,” Hyden said. “I’m sure you can make a compelling case that perhaps some people deserve to die, but that’s not the question we need to be asking ourselves. We need to ask ourselves do we trust the government to exercise this authority fairly and without mistake and with efficiency?”