There’s nothing conservative or pro-life about Kansas’ death penalty. End it | Opinion

It is no secret there is political polarization these days, and Kansas is no exception. But there is one issue that a growing number of people on both sides of the political spectrum do agree upon, and that is the need to end the death penalty in our state.

During the legislative session earlier this year, I was joined by two Republicans and three Democrats in sponsoring a bill that would end capital punishment in Kansas. Republicans around the country are doing the same from Indiana to Ohio, and from Pennsylvania to Kentucky.

For me, it is simple. The death penalty does not align with my conservative values and pro-life beliefs.

As a Catholic, I believe we are all created in the image of God, and I believe that all human life has value. The power of grace and redemption is central to our faith, and it is one reason why pro-life leaders are increasingly calling on those of us in the Kansas Legislature to end the death penalty.

And make no mistake: Innocent lives are always on the line when there is a death penalty, because human beings are fallible and sometimes they get it wrong. Since 1973, at least 200 people who were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated. Kansas has wrongfully convicted at least nine people of murder since 1989, and as long as we have a death penalty, there is a chance we could end up executing an innocent person.

As a fiscal conservative, I am always looking for ways to cut wasteful spending and there is nothing in Kansas government more wasteful than the death penalty. Few may now remember a Kansas Judicial Council report from 2014 that was requested by the Legislature, but I will not forget it.

The report graphically illustrated the fiscal impact of a prosecutor deciding to seek a death sentence. It compared the costs incurred in two similar sets of cases: cases that were death-eligible where the death penalty was pursued and death-eligible cases where the death penalty was not pursued. The findings revealed that defense and district court costs in Kansas for cases where a death sentence was sought were on average three to four times more expensive than in similar cases where the death penalty was not sought.

Why is the death penalty so dramatically more expensive than life without parole?

Because a human life is on the line, death penalty trials have layers of protections built in. They require additional attorneys and expensive subject matter experts — and they also have a separate sentencing phase, which means there are really two trials. So it was not surprising that the Judicial Council report found that a decision to go for a death sentence will, on average, more than double how long a trial lasts.

As a lawmaker, I have a responsibility to cut wasteful spending. If the death penalty did anything to save lives, maybe that would legitimize its exorbitant costs, but it does nothing to make us safer. In fact, data shows that states with the death penalty have higher murder rates.

During these times of growing costs, we cannot ignore the fiscal impact on taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet. Nor can we close our eyes to the reality that Kansans have been spending all this money while not executing anyone since 1965. That is 60 years with no executions, despite millions of dollars spent.

It is plain to see why ending the death penalty is now a bipartisan issue in Kansas and across the country, and why the time has come to apply some Kansas common sense to this issue. It is time for us to stop dumping our limited financial resources into a failed death penalty that reaps no benefits for our state.

Bill Sutton of Gardner represents District 43 in the Kansas House of Representatives.