On the same day that jurors in Massachusetts returned a verdict in favor of the federal death penalty for Tsarnaev, Nebraska lawmakers voted 30-16 in favor of advancing a bill to repeal their state’s death penalty. The bill faces one more vote, which is largely considered a formality. Assuming the bill keeps its veto-proof majority (Governor Pete Ricketts has promised a veto), Nebraska will become the 19th state to repeal the death penalty—the 6th state to do so in just 8 years.
Nebraska’s anticipated repeal is part of a growing movement among conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values. According to Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCADP):
- Some of us believe that small government and the death penalty don’t go together, especially when we compare the high costs of capital punishment to life without possibility of release.
- Some of us don’t trust the state to get it right. We already know that some innocent people have been sentenced to death, and for others it may already be too late.
- Some of us are disturbed by the roller coaster for family members of murder victims, or wonder why we’re investing so much in a system that doesn’t keep us any safer than the alternatives.
- Some of us believe that the death penalty contradicts our values about protecting life.
As Richard Viguerie, one of CCADP’s founding members has colorfully remarked, “this trend is not limited to bleeding-heart liberals and crime coddlers.”
A look at the (about-to-be 31) states with the death penalty reveals how important these conservative values will be to death penalty abolition in years to come. Bleeding-heart liberals and conservatives– unite!