Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 11, 2006 18:48:45 GMT -5
Death penalty will see scrutiny -- But lawmakers say it won't be overturned
Sioux Falls area lawmakers are staking their ground in the death penalty debate in anticipation of a major battle next year.
The battle, however, could be lopsided. Death penalty opponents will undoubtedly challenge capital punishment, but their bills will be quickly dispatched, several lawmakers say.
"We'll keep it," Sen. Tom Dempster predicted Wednesday.
Some lawmakers think there will be an effort to make use of the death penalty more common in South Dakota.
"I think you'll have both sides," Sen. Jason Gant said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are also speculating about who will introduce legislation to change South Dakota's lethal injection law to allow for 3-drug executions.
The issue elbowed onto center stage following last month's decision by Gov. Mike Rounds to delay the execution of convicted killer Elijah Page. The inmate was 1 of 3 men who stabbed, kicked and beat Chester Poage to death in March 2000 in a gulch near Spearfish.
Page was set to be executed Aug. 29 with three drugs, but state law calls for 2 drugs.
Sen. Gene Abdallah, a staunch supporter of the death penalty, said he's willing to fix the law so that the state can move on with executions.
"If no one else will introduce a bill, I will," he said.
But many lawmakers say that Rounds and his administration are responsible for introducing legislation to update the state's lethal injection law. They fully expect Rounds to be the point man on the issue.
"I would think that probably the governor will lead the charge," Sen. Bill Earley said.
Rep. Roger Hunt agrees.
"On this one, I think most of the Legislature will leave it up to the governor and the Department of Corrections," he said.
If for some reason a bill didn't come from the governor, Hunt said there are enough lawmakers who would introduce their own bills.
While lawmakers expect the administration to offer up a relatively easy fix to the state's law, other death penalty bills will probably emerge from legislators.
"I don't think it will be a simple issue," Sen. thingy Kelly said. "I think there will be a strong move to look at the death penalty."
"If everything would have went as planned last week, that individual would be dead right now, and I don't think the death penalty would have been an issue in the 2007 session," Gant said.
How big an issue? Earley predicts a majority of lawmakers uniting behind a bill that updates the law.
"The few people I've talked to have said, 'Let's go and change it and move on,' " he said.
Death penalty opponents may sponsor bills, but if history repeats itself, they won't get far. In the past several years efforts to do away with capital punishment have failed. In 2004, for example, a bill to repeal the death penalty barely survived its first committee hearing by one vote, only to die by a 27-8 vote on the Senate floor.
Rep. Kathy Miles, the Democratic whip in the House, has voted twice to abolish the death penalty. She'll do it again, she said, if her constituents want it repealed.
In South Dakota, the death penalty isn't a Democratic or Republican issue, Miles said. Some Democrats are for capital punishment while some Republicans are against it. For that reason, Miles said she won't attempt to force other Democrats on the issue.
"I personally will not," she said. "I can't speak for everyone else."
Abdallah said any effort to abolish the death penalty will be done over his objection. Although he thinks any such effort would fail, he concedes that some lawmakers are reconsidering their positions, which surprises him.
"I've heard some senators comment that they were pro death penalty, but because of this, they want to rethink it. I don't know why," he said.
Ultimately, the fate of the death penalty in South Dakota could rest with voters. If this year's election ushers in a new wave of faces, opponents could have a better chance.
"We all have to remember that an election can change a lot of things," Rep. Shantel Krebs said.
Polls show that a healthy majority of Americans favor the death penalty. Krebs said it hasn't been a hot topic among constituents she's talked to.
Krebs supports capital punishment in "heinous" cases, but she's willing to listen to the arguments of opponents.
"That's our job as legislators - to hear both sides of the story," she said.
(source: Argus Leader, Sept. 8)
Sioux Falls area lawmakers are staking their ground in the death penalty debate in anticipation of a major battle next year.
The battle, however, could be lopsided. Death penalty opponents will undoubtedly challenge capital punishment, but their bills will be quickly dispatched, several lawmakers say.
"We'll keep it," Sen. Tom Dempster predicted Wednesday.
Some lawmakers think there will be an effort to make use of the death penalty more common in South Dakota.
"I think you'll have both sides," Sen. Jason Gant said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are also speculating about who will introduce legislation to change South Dakota's lethal injection law to allow for 3-drug executions.
The issue elbowed onto center stage following last month's decision by Gov. Mike Rounds to delay the execution of convicted killer Elijah Page. The inmate was 1 of 3 men who stabbed, kicked and beat Chester Poage to death in March 2000 in a gulch near Spearfish.
Page was set to be executed Aug. 29 with three drugs, but state law calls for 2 drugs.
Sen. Gene Abdallah, a staunch supporter of the death penalty, said he's willing to fix the law so that the state can move on with executions.
"If no one else will introduce a bill, I will," he said.
But many lawmakers say that Rounds and his administration are responsible for introducing legislation to update the state's lethal injection law. They fully expect Rounds to be the point man on the issue.
"I would think that probably the governor will lead the charge," Sen. Bill Earley said.
Rep. Roger Hunt agrees.
"On this one, I think most of the Legislature will leave it up to the governor and the Department of Corrections," he said.
If for some reason a bill didn't come from the governor, Hunt said there are enough lawmakers who would introduce their own bills.
While lawmakers expect the administration to offer up a relatively easy fix to the state's law, other death penalty bills will probably emerge from legislators.
"I don't think it will be a simple issue," Sen. thingy Kelly said. "I think there will be a strong move to look at the death penalty."
"If everything would have went as planned last week, that individual would be dead right now, and I don't think the death penalty would have been an issue in the 2007 session," Gant said.
How big an issue? Earley predicts a majority of lawmakers uniting behind a bill that updates the law.
"The few people I've talked to have said, 'Let's go and change it and move on,' " he said.
Death penalty opponents may sponsor bills, but if history repeats itself, they won't get far. In the past several years efforts to do away with capital punishment have failed. In 2004, for example, a bill to repeal the death penalty barely survived its first committee hearing by one vote, only to die by a 27-8 vote on the Senate floor.
Rep. Kathy Miles, the Democratic whip in the House, has voted twice to abolish the death penalty. She'll do it again, she said, if her constituents want it repealed.
In South Dakota, the death penalty isn't a Democratic or Republican issue, Miles said. Some Democrats are for capital punishment while some Republicans are against it. For that reason, Miles said she won't attempt to force other Democrats on the issue.
"I personally will not," she said. "I can't speak for everyone else."
Abdallah said any effort to abolish the death penalty will be done over his objection. Although he thinks any such effort would fail, he concedes that some lawmakers are reconsidering their positions, which surprises him.
"I've heard some senators comment that they were pro death penalty, but because of this, they want to rethink it. I don't know why," he said.
Ultimately, the fate of the death penalty in South Dakota could rest with voters. If this year's election ushers in a new wave of faces, opponents could have a better chance.
"We all have to remember that an election can change a lot of things," Rep. Shantel Krebs said.
Polls show that a healthy majority of Americans favor the death penalty. Krebs said it hasn't been a hot topic among constituents she's talked to.
Krebs supports capital punishment in "heinous" cases, but she's willing to listen to the arguments of opponents.
"That's our job as legislators - to hear both sides of the story," she said.
(source: Argus Leader, Sept. 8)