Since the early 60’s, politicians have been pushing the agenda that every life is worth something, to tug at the general public’s heartstrings and make them feel bad for punishing criminals. The reality of the situation for a large portion of those politicians is that pharmaceutical companies no longer want their drugs being used on executions due to negative stigma surrounding the procedure. Thus, pharmaceutical companies pay politicians to lobby against the death penalty, so their product cannot be used, and they can remain in good standing with consumers.
The same story is told with privatized prison systems, that make money off the backs of the incarcerated. At a recent study it was shown that private companies running these institutions are among the biggest contributors come election time, and thus some of the biggest influencers on both local and state governing bodies. These companies don’t want a death penalty because they want to keep their business booming, and keep income