Utah Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
Currently the main focus of the Utah Justice Coalition. We believe Utah should repeal its death penalty and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The reasons are numerous, but among the most compelling reasons to eliminate this failed policy are the following:
It’s a wasteful, expensive government program.
According to a study by Utah’s own legislature, the death penalty costs taxpayers an estimated $1.6 million more than if the same person were sentenced to life in prison.
There’s an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people.
There are currently 156 exonerees from death row, as well as documented cases of innocent people having been executed. Justice is never served by creating more victims of the system. Sentencing someone to life in prison guarantees an innocent person won’t be executed, while still allowing the wrongly convicted to prove their innocence.
It fails the families of victims.
Some people on death row have been there for two or three decades. Every time a case is appealed, victims’ family members are forced to relive what happened to their loved one — through continued court appearances or the constant media coverage that capital murder cases attract.
It’s arbitrarily and unfairly administered.
The death penalty isn’t always pursued in cases where it could be, and it’s often used as a bargaining tool to coerce plea deals.
It doesn’t make the public any safer.
Many believe the death penalty deters murder and helps promote a lower murder rate — but the actual data says otherwise. States like New Jersey and New York, which have repealed their death penalties, have seen a statistical decrease in homicide rates, while states like Utah, which still have the death penalty, have seen a small statistical increase over the same period.