Behind the Scenes of a Repeal Campaign

Wyoming took the country by surprise in 2019 when it came within four votes of repealing the death penalty. That was the closest we had ever come to repealing the death penalty despite lawmakers introducing repeal bills every year for the past decade. 

Representative Jared Olsen, a Republican from Cheyenne, Wyoming’s capital city, carried the bill and has been a champion for repeal ever since. The near miss of 2019 was the first time a Republican lawmaker had sponsored a repeal bill in Wyoming, causing a shift in the way Republicans — and Wyomingites in general — think about the death penalty. 

After the 2019 effort, the ACLU of Wyoming, League of Women Voters, and the Cheyenne Catholic Diocese formed a coalition to end the death penalty in Wyoming . Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP) soon joined, and the coalition continues to grow. 

The Wyoming Campaign to End the Death Penalty is often said to be a group of unlikely allies, but we believe that shows how important repealing the death penalty is. We all come from different backgrounds, political beliefs, and religions, yet we can put our differences aside because we agree on this one issue. That’s what makes our coalition so powerful: any argument that death penalty proponents raise, together we find a way to refute it. 

In 2021, once again, four votes separated our coalition from making history. Yes, it’s disappointing to not achieve our goal. But each time we make an effort, we have a better idea of what it will take for the Cowboy State to be freed of this most egregious response to violence. 

The work that goes on behind the scenes of a repeal campaign is so much more than just virtual events and lobbying legislators during session. The coalition builds strategies and tactics that educate the public, and that foster and elevate support for death penalty repeal. 

Specifically for CCATDP this includes planning, designing, and leading dialogues about the death penalty at small gatherings of conservatives, and sharing information about how the death penalty doesn’t fit with conservative values. 

CCATDP works to identify and participate in meetings and events in Wyoming that foster relationships with members of the legal community, faith leaders, current and former law enforcement, family members of murder victims, legislators, and other community leaders. And one of the most important aspects of a campaign is fostering relationships with individuals and leaders of conservative groups working outside of CCATDP’s mission whose interests might align with anti-death penalty arguments (for example, limited government, pro-life values, the power of redemption, and/or other criminal justice reforms).

The work and dedication that go on behind the scenes of a repeal campaign are unmatched. Majority of those involved in the Wyoming Campaign to End the Death Penalty don’t work on death penalty repeal full time. Yet, everyone is equally as dedicated and passionate about ending Wyoming’s death penalty and that shows in the progress the campaign has made in recent years. Because of the efforts and dedication of the coalition we know that the death penalty in Wyoming will be repealed very soon. Until then, we keep working.