A bill that would end the death penalty in Kansas passed the senate judiciary committee by a vote of 7 to 4! The ‘yeses’ included five Republicans and two Democrats and this bi-partisan endorsement moves the bill on to the full state senate, which will debate the issue as early as next week.
The committee’s decision was inspired by the myriad voices in support of repeal that senators heard in the hearings that preceded the vote. Former district attorney, Sam Milsap, highlighted the death penalty’s risk of executing an innocent person Bishop Michael O. Jackels spoke of Catholic thinking in opposition to the death penalty. Professor Michael L. Radelet laid out the evidence that the death penalty does not promote public safety. Bud Welch, whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma bombings, told his story in which the perpetrator’s execution gave him not one iota of healing or peace.
Jordan Steiker, who teaches death penalty law at the University of Texas, highlighted the recent decision of the American Law Institute (ALI) to drop the capital punishment section from its Model Penal Code. The Model Penal Code serves as a blueprint for state laws. Their capital punishment section was the framework on which every state’s death penalty law was based, so the decision to scrap the section is pretty momentous. After a comprehensive study, the ALI simply realized that the death penalty system was way too broken to fix.
Donna Schneweis, Coordinator of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty (KCADP) said that when Steiker was speaking, the committee was in “rapt attention.” Said Donna, “Sometimes you see people on their laptops or shuffling papers but not here. There were enough lawyers on the committee that they recognized the significance of the ALI’s move.”
KCADP’s organizer Chris Cook told me that the hearings resonated with the Kansan public as well. “The hearings really motivated people to get involved and let their legislators know they want change. We are very pleased that the committee voted to send the bill to senate floor and, with more people engaged then ever before, we are feeling very hopeful. I urge all Kansas to contact their state senators and have their voices heard.”
The whole team at KCADP believes it’s a new day for Kansas. And with Kansas at the center, the very heart, of the nation, this could be big news for all of us.
