No “Death Penalty” in Colorado?
Colorado has not executed a person since 1997 and for many, it is hoped it never does.
Which is one reason legislators are introducing a bill today (Tuesday, January 14) to end it in Colorado.
Stating the penalty is unjust and expensive, not to mention ineffective, the ACLU has come out in support of the proposed bill, as have many families of murder victims, but not everyone thinks it's a good idea.
State Senator Rhonda Fields lost her brother to murder as he was about to testify in another murder trial and she feels repealing the penalty will allow what happened to him and his fiancee will happen a lot more.
“Right now, there’s only three that are on death row, serving that penalty, and two of the people that are on death row are there for murdering my son and his fiancee,” Fields said. “If we create an environment that you can undermine our criminal justice system by killing witnesses, then our community is not going to be safe."
Those who are hopeful the legislation passes feel the penalty is disproportionate towards people of color and that more and more convictions are being overturned.
Most everyone agrees, however, that this is a decision best left to the people. Will we see a ballot issue on this soon?