A multitude of media pundits were puzzled when Nebraska repealed the death penalty last year, but the step taken by the Cornhusker State was perfectly rational and entirely consistent with conservatism. National leaders, including Dr. Ron Paul, Richard Viguerie, Colonel Oliver North and Michael Steele have been voicing their opposition to the death penalty for years and for good reasons. Regardless of whether one supports the death penalty in theory, in practice capital punishment has a long documented history of failing to live up to conservative principles.

We conservatives pride ourselves on abiding by our foundational tenets, including promoting pro-life policies, fiscal responsibility and limited government, but the death penalty violates each of these core values. Capital punishment unquestionably and consistently risks innocent lives. Nationally, more than 155 individuals have been released from death row after being wrongly sentenced to death. Others have been executed despite serious doubts regarding their guilt. Unfortunately, erroneous convictions occur with alarming frequency due to prosecutorial misconduct, faulty forensics and mistaken eyewitness identification. Considering the government’s fallibility, the risk to innocent lives cannot be satisfactorily mitigated so long as the death penalty remains on the books. Given this reality, it’s difficult to reconcile the death penalty with a culture of life.