Virginia Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
Statement of Principles
Revised May 20, 2015
Virginia Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is a network of
political conservatives who question whether capital punishment is consistent
with conservative principles and values.
We arrive at this conclusion for a variety of reasons:
“+ Some of us believe that small government and the death penalty are
incompatible given the high costs of capital punishment compared to life in
prison without the possibility of release.
* Some of us do not want to risk the execution of an innocent person by our
imperfect criminal justice system. We know that innocent people were
sentenced to death and later exonerated.
“+ Some of us are disturbed by the impact of the long process of mandatory
death sentence appeals on the family members of murder victims. A
sentence of life in prison without parole offers legal finality to murder
victim family members far more quickly than capital punishment.
*» Some of us believe we should not continue to invest so much time and tax
money into the death penalty when it does not keep us safer than the
alternative of life in prison without parole.
«+ Some of us believe that the death penalty violates our values on the
sanctity of human life.
« And for other reasons...
Death sentences are at an all-time low and public support for the death
penalty has dropped in favor of life in prison without parole. More and more
conservatives are questioning the death penalty and finding it to be
inconsistent with conservative principles.
I agree with this statement and willing to be publicly identified as
a supporter.
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