CCATDP supporter, Dr. Ron Paul expressed in detail why he cannot support the death penalty program in a recent op-ed. When discussing the cost of capital punishment, he wrote,
It is hard to find a more wasteful and inefficient government program than the death penalty.
But Dr. Paul understands that its failures are not limited to fiscal world. He said,
Despite all the time and money spent to ensure that no one is wrongly executed, the system is hardly foolproof. Since 1973, one out of every ten individuals sentenced to death has been released from death row because of evidence discovered after conviction.
The former Presidential candidate doesn’t believe it is wise to entrust this power to a government that makes mistakes. He wrote,
It is not surprising that the government wastes so much time and money on such a flawed system. After all, corruption, waste, and incompetence are common features of government programs ranging from Obamacare to the TSA to public schools to the post office. Given the long history of government failures, why should anyone, especially conservatives who claim to be the biggest skeptics of government, think it is a good idea to entrust government with the power over life and death?
He closed by saying,
Until the death penalty is abolished, we will have neither a free nor a moral society.
In August of 2013, the former Congressman from Texas endorsed CCATDP’s goals and made a strong statement against the death penalty, as Reason reported him saying:
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.
