On
May 27, Nebraska became the first Republican controlled state to repeal
the death penalty in over 40 years. They did so after voting overwhelmingly
four times to end capital punishment, defeating a filibuster and even the
governor’s veto.
It’s
easy to understand why a conservative state would want to abolish a dangerous,
costly, and unnecessary government program like the death penalty. A mere days
after Nebraska moved away from capital punishment, yet another man was released
from death row because he was wrongly sentenced to die. Alfred
Dewayne Brown spent 10 years on Texas’ death row despite evidence confirming
his alibi, primarily because a police officer repeatedly threatened his
girlfriend into contradicting his alibi.
CCATDP
supporter Dr. Ron Paul penned
an op-ed expanding on the reasons why he opposes the death penalty and why
others should likewise be concerned. He called the death penalty “The ultimate
corrupt, big government program” and wrote, “Until the death penalty is
abolished, we will have neither a free nor a moral society.”
In
August of 2013, the former Presidential candidate also
said, “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.”
Conservatives Concerned in the Media
CCATDP
was featured in many diverse media outlets following Nebraska’s death penalty
repeal and the sentence handed down to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
•
We were highlighted in Time
Magazine, New
York Times, New
York Magazine, Christian
Science Monitor, Heritage’s
Daily Signal, Daily
Caller, Fusion,
Liberty
Edifier, and CCATDP supporter, Julie Borowski, wrote about us in the Libertarian
Republic.
• We also enjoyed coverage from the Baptist Standard, ATTN, FEE’s Anything Peaceful, ABA Journal, and even the Rachel Maddow show.
• CCATDP’s Heather Beaudoin was a guest on the Alan Colmes radio show, and she wrote a piece for the Religion News Service describing how Protestants and Catholics are uniting against the death penalty.
• CCATDP’s Ben Jones penned an article for the Blaze highlighting why many Christians oppose executing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and a piece for Aletia. He was also interviewed by the LA Times about Tsnarnaev’s sentence.
• I was interviewed on Utah’s Red Meat Radio, Georgia’s WABE 90.1, Liberty Talk Radio (along with Heather Beaudoin), the Capital Hill Show with Tim Constantine, and I authored two op-eds covering how Nebraska repealed the death penalty and why capital punishment is so costly.
• Nebraska Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s Matt Maly wrote an op-ed laying out why the death penalty is far more expensive than life without parole, and one of CCATDP’s founding members Roy Brown called on Montana to follow Nebraska’s lead.
• We also enjoyed coverage from the Baptist Standard, ATTN, FEE’s Anything Peaceful, ABA Journal, and even the Rachel Maddow show.
• CCATDP’s Heather Beaudoin was a guest on the Alan Colmes radio show, and she wrote a piece for the Religion News Service describing how Protestants and Catholics are uniting against the death penalty.
• CCATDP’s Ben Jones penned an article for the Blaze highlighting why many Christians oppose executing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and a piece for Aletia. He was also interviewed by the LA Times about Tsnarnaev’s sentence.
• I was interviewed on Utah’s Red Meat Radio, Georgia’s WABE 90.1, Liberty Talk Radio (along with Heather Beaudoin), the Capital Hill Show with Tim Constantine, and I authored two op-eds covering how Nebraska repealed the death penalty and why capital punishment is so costly.
• Nebraska Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty’s Matt Maly wrote an op-ed laying out why the death penalty is far more expensive than life without parole, and one of CCATDP’s founding members Roy Brown called on Montana to follow Nebraska’s lead.
Conservatives Concerned in the Field
For
the second year in a row, I joined the North
Carolina Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty group at the North
Carolina State GOP convention. Conservatives leaders helped us exhibit at
the event, and our booth was often crowded with conservatives who view capital
punishment as an unnecessary, risky, and costly government program.
Upcoming
CCATDP
will return for the third year in a row to the Young
Americans for Liberty national convention in Washington DC where we will be
speaking and exhibiting. If you’re in town drop by to say hi!
Call to Action
Want
to let people know why you’re concerned about the death penalty? Click
here to share Radley Balko’s article on Alfred Dewayne Brown’s wrongful
conviction on Facebook, and click
here to share Dr. Ron Paul’s op-ed on capital punishment.