Washington D.C., Oct 28, 2017 / 05:02 am
Republican lawmakers play an increasing role in opposition to the death penalty. Both political principles and, for some, their Catholic faith, play a role in motivating their stand.
"Since the Tea Party revolution, growing numbers of Tea Partiers have been elected to state legislative posts, and many of them campaigned on promises of instituting fiscal responsibility and limited government," said Marc Hyden, national advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. "Yet, the death penalty conflicts with these ideals."
Hyden's organization, a project of the national anti-death penalty group Equal Justice USA, has 11 state chapters in the U.S.
The makeup of legislatures is changing, he said. More millennials are taking office, and their generation is less likely to support the death penalty. They have joined with older Republican colleagues who have quietly disapproved of the death penalty.