Vo⁠i⁠ces

The moral justification I had for voting for the death simply no longer exists.

I’ve heard all the justifications — deterrence, support for victims, cost savings…those misguided arguments act as a smoke screen for the profound flaws that mark capital punishment.

“Concerned Conservatives is asking serious questions about how justice is implemented and the ramifications of the death penalty in a fallible system. As a conservative legislator in America, I am grateful to have an organization like CC asking the hard questions so that we may bring true justice to victims and exonerate the innocent.”

The finality of the death penalty leaves no room for error. History has shown that innocent people have been executed, and the risk of condemning even one innocent person is too great a price to pay.

A society can permanently remove dangerous offenders from the public through life imprisonment while refusing to grant the government the irreversible power to deliberately end a human life. That distinction matters because governments are not infallible. Courts make mistakes. Prosecutors make mistakes. Evidence is mishandled. Witnesses are mistaken. Innocent people have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. An execution cannot be reversed. A wrongful conviction can be corrected. A wrongful execution cannot. A government strong enough to protect society without taking life demonstrates greater confidence in justice than one that relies on execution.

“I oppose the death penalty because I follow a consistent life ethic. As a Catholic who is also vegetarian and anti-abortion, I do not believe in playing God by ending another human life. Sentencing someone to death is incompatible with modern standards of justice.”

“As a conservative, my opposition to the death penalty is rooted in the same principles that shape the rest of my worldview: a deep skepticism of concentrated government power and a belief that ultimate authority belongs to God. While many conservatives reach a different conclusion, I am not comfortable entrusting the state with the irreversible power to take a human life. Government is fallible; God is not. For me, the power over life and death should rest with Him alone.”

Conservatives Concerned brings an important perspective to the table for center-right voters and elected officials. They offer a pathway to principled debate for those who believe in the sanctity of life and others who are concerned about a system that makes mistakes in one of every eight capital cases. Whether one is for or against the death penalty, informed discussion is critical to ensuring America has a just and fair criminal justice system.

“While wrongful convictions occur all too often in our criminal justice system, they can sometimes be righted through appeals or new evidence. But when a wrongful capital punishment is carried out, it cannot be corrected. Modern DNA forensic science has demonstrated that hundreds of innocent people have been executed. Human life is sacred to us and we can no longer support the use of capital punishment.”