ABA Journal: "Faith and fiscal responsibility cause many conservatives to change their view of the death penalty"

The ABA Journal reports. 

As with much social-issues reporting, it is difficult to get a sense of the magnitude of the reported shift in attitudes. The article quotes Kent Scheidegger, an excellent prosecution-oriented lawyer, as saying the shift in conservative attitudes is overblown:

“It’s a strategy of the other side to find people who fit that mold and promote them,” he says. “Every great once in a while you get a murder victim’s family member who says they are opposed and they get lots of support and exposure. Now they’re trying the same thing with people they identify as conservatives.”

That may be the case; hard to say. But perhaps the strategy is more effective these days because conservatives who oppose the death penalty are more numerous these days. That seems to be the case in Virginia, anyhow. A good example of a shift is former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley,Sr., who described his changed perspective at a symposium last year at the University of Richmond School of Law.