Gov. Matt Blunt wants a mandatory death penalty for the murder of law enforcement officers in Missouri.
As USA Today reports, a half-dozen states, including Missouri, are considering tougher death penalty measures at a time when many states are scaling back its use.
In his State of the State address, Gov. Blunt declared, "I am asking you to pass legislation that makes the death penalty mandatory in cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer."
Law enforcement agencies across the state immediately applauded his plan, but some critics question whether Blunt's proposal is smart or even legal.
Watch my KY3 News @ 10 report on the debate HERE.
Meanwhile, there's also a push for a death penalty moratorium in Missouri - by a Republican who supports the death penalty. Rep. Bill Deeken (R-Jefferson City) has proposed legislation that would put an end to all executions until 2011 and set up a commission to review the implementation of the death penalty in past cases.
It's House Bill 445, but even Deeken says it's not expected to pass this year.
1 comment:
"Journey Toward Justice" Changed my mind about the Death Penalty. A Book Recommendation: This is the Companion book to John Grisham's The Innocent Man, Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz. Journey Toward Justice is a testimony to the Triumph of the human Spirit and is a Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. Dennis Fritz was the other Innocent man mentioned in John Grisham's Book which mainly is about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's co-defendant. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. Read about why he went on a special diet of his while in prison, amazing and shocking. Dennis Fritz's Story of unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction needs to be heard. Look for his book in book stores or at Amazon.com , Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz, Publisher Seven Locks Press 2006. .
Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975 by a deranged 17 year old neighbor. On May 8th 1987, Five years after Debbie Sue Carter's rape and murder he was home with his young daughter and put under arrest, handcuffed and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. After 10 years in prison he discovered The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization. With the aid of Barry Scheck and DNA evidence Dennis Fritz was exonerated on April 15,1999 Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns and now on his Journey Toward Justice. He never blamed the Lord and solely relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.
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