Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said on Sunday he was conflicted about the death penalty both “as a human being” and because executions take too long to carry out.
“It’s hard for me, as a human being, to sign the death warrant, to be honest with you,” Bush said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. His conflict is spiritual – he is Catholic – and practical, he added.
“I’m conflicted,” he said. “I am. It was the law of the land when I was governor, and I faithfully dealt with it.”
Florida executed 21 prisoners while Bush was governor.
He continued: “To be honest with you, it is not a deterrent anymore because it’s seldom used. It clogs up the courts, it costs a ton of money.
“I’m informed by my faith in many things, and this is one of them … but here’s the deal. This happens in rare cases where the death penalty’s given out and you meet family members that have lost a loved one and it’s still in their heart. It’s etched in their soul. And this is the way that they get closure? I get more comfortable with it, to be honest with you.
“But we should reform it. If it’s to be used as a deterrent, it has to be reformed. It can’t take 25 years. That does no one any good. Neither the victims nor the state is solving this problem with that kind of tangled judicial process.”
Bush said he nonetheless remained a supporter of capital punishment.
“I’m just saying, look, this is life … It’s not all either/or. Sometimes you can see both sides. And I believe life is truly a gift from God, and innocent life particularly should be protected at all cost, for sure.
“But people that commit these crimes, justice can’t be denied. And it shouldn’t be delayed. And maybe there’s a better way to do this where victims feel as though they’re being served, because that should be front and center, the first obligation of the state.”
