NEW VOICES: A Leader of Florida Federation of Young Republicans Calls for Re-exam­i­na­tion of Death Penalty

Saying that if one is looking to identify “failed government programs …, Florida’s death penalty certainly fills the bill,” Brian Empric (pictured), vice-chairman of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans, presents a conservative case against the death penalty. In a recent guest column for the Orlando Sentinel, Empric says that - as the Florida legislature weighs its response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hurst v. Florida - the state should halt all executions “[u]ntil the constitutionality of our sentencing process is satisfactorily addressed…. [M]ore important,” he adds, “Floridians are being presented with a great opportunity to re-examine capital punishment.” Empric argues that the death penalty conflicts with conservative pro-life values and that “it is impossible to square capital punishment with these views.” He goes on to describe systemic problems in the administration of capital punishment that he believes violate conservative principles. He highlights the “prosecutorial misconduct, mistaken eyewitness testimony, and reliance on erroneous forensic testimonies” that has led to Florida’s 26 death row exonerations - the most in the nation. “The human element in the process,” he says, “assures us that the death penalty will never be entirely accurate, but when potentially innocent lives hang in the balance, we cannot accept anything less than perfection.” He cites a study that found Florida could save at least $50 million by replacing the death penalty with life without parole, and notes that Jefferson County, “was forced to freeze employee raises and slash its library budget just to fund two capital cases.” He calls the death penalty, “a government program that fails to achieve its intended objectives,” and concludes, “It’s an issue that should be of concern to conservatives and anyone committed to limited government and eliminating wasteful and ineffective government programs.”

(B. Empric, “Death-penalty ruling opens door to reform,” Orlando Sentinel, February 13, 2016.) See New Voices.