Republican legislators in at least six states are working to eliminate the death penalty, signaling a broader reversal by many conservatives on an issue that has long been a bedrock for their party, reports the Wall Street Journal. In Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana and Wyoming, Republicans in legislatures controlled by their party are sponsoring bills to end capital punishment, citing fiscal and moral concerns. Some Republicans in New Hampshire, where Democrats dominate the statehouse, are backing a similar proposal. A GOP lawmaker in Louisiana’s Republican legislature said he plans to introduce a repeal bill. Twenty-seven Republican state legislators around the U.S. sponsored anti-death penalty bills last year, compared with four in 2000, says the advocacy group Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.
The about-face on an issue that has long been key to the GOP’s tough-on-crime credo is the latest sign of a bipartisan shift on criminal justice reform. “Conservatives pride themselves in limiting government, having fiscally responsible policies and believing in the sanctity of life,” said Hannah Cox of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. “When you look at the death penalty and say ‘Does it meet any of these qualifications?’ The answer is, ‘It does not.’ ” Thirty states still have the death penalty, but executions have dipped because of several factors, including shortages of lethal-injection drugs and growing controversy around whether they cause undue pain. Last year, eight states carried out 25 executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 1999, there were 98, the highest number since the death penalty was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as constitutional in 1976. In Texas, which has executed the most people since 1977, there are no proposals from GOP lawmakers to repeal the death penalty in the Republican-controlled legislature.