Opposition to death penalty growing among Republicans, activists say

Washington D.C., Jan 21, 2020 / 18:00 pm

The number of Republican state lawmakers opposed to capital punishment is growing, a conservative group claims, as anti-death penalty activists look forward to continued momentum from the right on this issue in 2020. 

"The nation is down to only 25 states that still have an active death penalty system, of those, over a third have not used it in a decade or more," Hannah Cox, National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, told CNA in a statement. 

"We anticipate the downward trends to continue around capital punishment and expect to see more states join those that have repealed their systems over the next year."

At the national level, the parties are divided on the issue.

The 2016 Republican Party platform stated that "The constitutionality of the death penalty is firmly settled by its explicit mention in the Fifth Amendment," and that "With the murder rate soaring in our great cities, we condemn the Supreme Court's erosion of the right of the people to enact capital punishment in their states." 

Conversely, the 2016 Democratic Party platform called for the abolition of capital punishment, which was refered to as "arbitrary and unjust." 

Despite the platform plank, Republican lawmakers seem relatively unafraid to introduce bills to repeal the practice. 

In the 2020 legislative season, five state legislatures are considering Republican-sponsored bills to overturn the death penalty: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Washington. Last year, repeal bills were introduced with Republican sponsors in 10 states. That is a two-state increase from 2018. 

Out of the 10 states that considered bills to abolish the death penalty, one, in New Hampshire, passed, and went into effect in 2019. Another, in Wyoming, failed in the Senate.

New Hampshire repealed the death penalty for anyone who was convicted of capital murder after May 30, 2019. Although the bill was initially vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, it was overruled by a two-thirds majority in both of the state's legislative chambers. 

In the veto vote, about 40% of the state's Republican senators voted to overturn the death penalty. 

With New Hampshire overturning the death penalty, there are now no states in New England where capital punishment is legal. There is, however, one man on the Granite State's death row: Michael "Stix" Addison was convicted in 2008 after murdering a police officer, Michael Biggs. Addison is still eligible for the death penalty, unless his sentence is commuted to life in prison. 

The last person executed in New Hampshire was executed in 1939. Several previous efforts in the 21st century to repeal the death penalty had failed. 

In Wyoming, the bill to repeal the death penalty died in the state Senate, which is composed of 27 Republicans and three Democrats. The bill's main sponsor was Republican Sen. Brian Boner. 

The bill failed on a vote of 18-12. Wyoming has only executed one person since the Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that the death penalty is a legal punishment. There is nobody presently on the state's death row.