On March 17, a group of Kansas conservative leaders gathered in Topeka to declare their support for repeal of the death penalty. Their case is straightforward: the death penalty is at odds with core conservative values – a commitment to fiscal responsibility, limited government, and valuing life.
The group presented an open letter signed by more than 20 prominent conservatives who also support repeal. Signers included current and former Republican lawmakers, leaders of county-level Republican Party chapters, members of the Kansas Republican Liberty Caucus and several Republican and pro-life student groups.
Representative Bill Sutton is a Republican who represents district 43 in Central Kansas. “I am pro-life across the board. That is non-negotiable,” he said at the press conference. “By ending the death penalty, Kansas can take an important step toward promoting a culture of life, as well as end a costly and ineffective government program.” Earlier this year, Rep. Sutton detailed the high cost of Kansas’ death penalty in an op-ed appearing in Watchdog.org.
Rep. Sutton was joined by former Republican State Representative Anthony Brown and Laura Peredo, president of Ravens Respect Life, a student group from Benedictine College. Two death row exonerees, Ray Krone and Ron Keine of Witness to Innocence, also spoke about their intimate experience with the death penalty.
Keine, who has been active in Republican politics since his release, does not trust government with the power to execute: “The government almost killed me and dozens of other innocent individuals across the country who were wrongfully sentenced to death. Kansas has an opportunity this year to ensure that the state never runs that risk.”
The event was co-sponsored by the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.
A week before the press conference, Conservative heavyweight and National Review editor, Ramesh Ponnuru urged the governors of both Kansas and Nebraska to back repeal. The Nebraska Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to support repeal of the death penalty earlier this month. That bill now goes to the floor.
