Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values. Our group is supported by such conservative icons as Richard A. Viguerie, Jay Sekulow, and Ron Paul. We all are questioning the death penalty for a variety of reasons: 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. It is a system marked by inefficiency, inequity, and inaccuracy. Across our nation the number of death sentences is dropping and polls show support for capital punishment at an all time low. As one of our founding supporters, Richard Viguerie, says, “this trend is not limited to bleeding-heart liberals and crime coddlers.” As conservatives, we’re concerned too.