The Kansas Federation of College Republicans unanimously adopted a resolution calling for repeal of the death penalty in their state. “More young conservatives like myself recognize that our broken and fallible system of capital punishment in no way matches up with our conservative values,” said Dalton Glasscock, a Wichita State University student and chairman of the federation. Citing pro-life views and fiscal responsibility, the group urged Kansas legislators to repeal the state’s death penalty. Eric Pahls, president of Kansas University College Republicans, said, “I think if, as Republicans, we call ourselves pro-life, that is from birth through natural death, not from birth until we decide your life is less important or less valuable.” Glasscock and Pahls think there is a generational shift in views about the death penalty among young Republicans. A recent Pew Research Center poll indicated that death penalty support is weakest among younger Americans, among whom it has dropped by 8 percentage points since 2011. The federation joins the Republican Liberty Caucus of Kansas, who last year announced support for repeal of capital punishment. The Kansas Republican Party has dropped death penalty support from its platform, and now takes a neutral stance on the issue. Kansas has not carried out any executions since it reinstated the death penalty in 1994.

(P. Hancock, “Kansas Federation of College Republicans adopts resolution opposing death penalty,” Lawrence Journal-World, August 20, 2015; K. Bellware, “Kansas College Republicans Latest Conservative Group To Oppose The Death Penalty,” The Huffington Post (Aug. 25, 2015).) See New Voices and Kansas.

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