Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s founding supporter, Richard Viguerie, recently weighed in on Oklahoma’s ongoing death penalty quagmire. In an op-ed published by the Oklahoman, Viguerie wrote,
This election year, Republican and Democratic voters in records numbers agree on something: They distrust political leaders and the political establishment. That same distrust applies to ambitious prosecutors, who are part of the political establishment. Too many have been caught cheating to win convictions, withholding exculpatory evidence and using coerced confessions.
The bipartisan distrust of the political establishment is certainly increasing with regard to the death penalty.
Viguerie pointed out that when considering the death penalty’s numerous shortcomings, it is indefensible in practice:
The death penalty’s problems are a confluence of things that all Americans loathe: a big, broken, costly and dangerous government program prone to mistakes…
However, conservatives shouldn’t be surprised by the death penalty’s failures given the government’s track record as Viguerie noted:
The death penalty system, where errors are gravest, is prone to flaws and lawlessness like any other government program.
