The death penalty has been a part of the American fabric since 1608 when officials executed George Kendall of Virginia for [supposedly] plotting to betray England on behalf of Spain. Since then the act of Capital Punishment has weaved its way into both major political parties, but in recent years there's been an unsuspecting trend most people are unaware of until now. GOP legislators from multiple states (Montana, Utah, Nebraska, and Washington State) have sponsored various bills seeking to repeal the death penalty.

conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty will host a news conference on Wednesday at the National press Club highlighting an upcoming report, The Right Way, which unveils new findings of the Republican Party’s role in state-level efforts to repeal the death penalty.

“In recent years, there's been a sharp increase in conservative opposition to the death penalty,” Marc Hyden, a national coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty remarked in a press release. “Republican lawmakers have been leaders in this national trend. Conservatives recognize that the death penalty is a broken policy that does not align with conservative principles, including valuing life, fiscal responsibility, and limited government."

The locals

Beverly Hill, a DC republican whom I spoke to finds the news motivating. "My family has been politically involved in the party of Lincoln, Fredrick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington for generations," she said, "and while hearing a state like Washington might go this direction of repealing the death penalty isn't anything new because it makes sense.

But it's inspiring to see conservatives from less typical states like Utah and Nebraska joining the charge."

Those on the left find the rhetoric commonplace for them, and even the Democratic Party had the removal of the death penalty as part of the Party platform in 2016. And some have concerns about what the GOP endgame may be.

Such is the thought of Jacoby Wright, a Maryland resident who works in DC. In an email, he said in part, "I am all in favor of change and doing away with capital punishment, but part of me feels the GOP will offer us some ridiculous idea to make that happen when looking at a national platform." He added, he would love to see a day when things like what happened in Arkansas wouldn't happen.

He's referring to the state's governor, Asa Hutchinson (R), deciding to allow the execution of eight men to be carried out allegedly before the state's lethal injection drugs expired. Four men were spared, while the other four were executed.

Capital punishment is carried out by the federal government and 31 states. Pennsylvania and Colorado also have death-penalty moratoriums. "I'm a conservative, but I also believe in being fiscally responsible, having limited government, and supporting pro-life policies," Hill added. "My party's fractured, but not out."

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is a national network of conservatives and libertarians questioning the alignment of capital punishment with their principles.

It is a project of Equal Justice USA, a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization working to build a criminal justice system that works. The group makes the case that believes the death penalty violates three core conservative values. They believe you can't be pro-life yet still support capital punishment. They also believe you can't be skeptical of government and expect it to adequately take a human life. Furthermore, they believe it might be debatable in determining the government's cost from beginning to end of an inmate's life, but stand beside studies which show modern death penalty costs being the most expensive punishment prosecutors can pursue. Through arrest, initial court dealings, appeals, and care of the inmate, it can be a hefty price. The report will be available on their website October 25.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED