A Conservative’s Case for Repeal of the Death Penalty
State Rep David Floyd
On February 12, 2014, I held a press conference in the Kentucky Capitol to introduce HB
330, my bill to repeal the death penalty. Truthfully, I don’t believe that many people have
thought deeply about capital punishment, and, I admit, I had insufficiently pondered it as
well. My initial opposition formed through a spiritual lens, so in 2007 I joined others in
cosponsoring legislation to repeal the death penalty. But I was the only conservative
legislator in a group of liberals. Over these last few years, “liberal” and spiritual
arguments have failed to persuade other legislators to take up these bills. How, then,
might we bring other conservatives with us, and at last vote to abolish our death penalty?
This can be done by exploring together conservative arguments in favor of repeal.
Conservatives value innocent life and should not support a state government program that
can kill innocent people. In a government program run by human beings mistakes can be
made; with the death penalty, innocent people can and have been executed. Kentucky
has sentenced 78 individuals to death since 1976. Fifty of those convictions have been
overturned, and one inmate was released from a sentence of death because he was
wrongly convicted. Conservatives should agree that it’s not worth sacrificing the
innocent to kill the guilty.
Conservatives are mindful of the potential to abuse power that has been granted by the
people, and should not trust the government with the power to execute a person who is
safely behind bars. In Kentucky judges and prosecutors hold elective political office, but
surely the decision to execute someone should not be a political decision. Our history
suffers no shortage of elected leaders who have abused their power. Giving them
authority to kill should be worrisome.
Conservatives are the first to call out government programs that fail to meet intended
goals and cost exorbitant amounts of money. (We certainly don’t trust the government to
run our nation’s health care system, for example.) Death penalty cases require decades of
court activity. Our precautions require this lengthy and costly process; it cannot be
shortened. This puts families of murder victims and families of the condemned through
years of additional trauma with the accompanying media attention and uncertainty.
Conservatives want a government that will balance budgets, cut waste, and eliminate
programs that do not make fiscal sense. Kentucky’s death penalty is a program that costs
a lot while accomplishing little. We’ve spent well over 100 million dollars on the death
penalty since 1976 - and executed 3 people. Having a death penalty is clearly wasting
taxpayer dollars, while a penalty of life without the possibility of parole makes much
better economic sense.
Lady Justice is usually depicted wearing a blindfold, signifying objectivity. There should
be no favor in meting out justice, no regard for power or weakness, nor money, or
position. The truth is our death penalty doesn’t meet this standard. Most Kentucky
counties don’t use it. Two identical murders in bordering counties can receive two
completely different sentences. To make matters worse, people of color and those in
poverty are disproportionately sentenced to death rather than to life in prison. Something
is terribly wrong.
Capital punishment in Kentucky is a broken government program that risks killing the
wrongly convicted, risks abuse of power, wastes resources, is arbitrary and unjust.
We’ ve tried to make the death penalty work, but we have been unable to fix its many
problems and reconcile it with our conservative principles. We should repeal the death
penalty and replace it with life without parole. It’s the only way to ensure that no
innocent people are killed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and that those impacted
by the process get finality much sooner.
Gerald Neal in the Senate (SB 77) and Julie Raque Adams in the House are helping to
lead our effort this year, joining others who have been in the fight for decades.
Conservatives must work with people across the political spectrum to expose the many
deficiencies of Kentucky’s system of capital punishment. And then we must repeal it.
State Representative David Floyd, R-Bardstown, House District 50- Nelson
County
For additional conservative arguments in favor of repeal, please see more information on
the website www. ConservativesConcerned.org
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