TOPEKA – The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill Friday that would abolish the state’s death penalty for crimes committed after July 1.
By a vote of 7-4, the bill now goes to the full Senate for discussion.
Senators had considered two bills: Senate Bill 208, which was debated last year, and Senate Bill 375, which replaces the death penalty with the crime of aggravated murder. The new crime comes with a mandatory life without parole sentence.
The committee tabled the first bill and moved forward Senate Bill 375.
Voting yes were Republican senators Dwayne Umbarger, Thayer; John Vratil, Leawood; Mary Pilcher Cook, Shawnee; Les Donovan, Wichita; Chairman Tim Owens, Overland Park, and Democratic senators Laura Kelly, Topeka and David Haley, Kansas City, Kan.
Voting no were Republican senators Jean Schodorf, Wichita; Derek Schmidt, Independence; Julia Lynn, Olathe and Terry Bruce, Hutchinson.
Schodorf said she was voting no in committee because she already knew she would vote that way on the Senate floor.
Schmidt, who is the chamber’s majority leader, urged the senators not to move the measure forward pointing out it was unlikely to succeed this year.
“The question is not is the death penalty going to be repealed this year,” he said. “The question is at what point does it stop this year.”
Others disagreed.
“People need to be able to review something as serious as a death penalty consideration because this is truly life and death we are talking about,” Owens said.
For more, read Saturday’s Wichita Eagle.
11 Comments
God help us all.
Great idea. Now limit the sentences of all the offenders to the minimum. Let them out as soon as possible. Then put them all in houses/apartments right next to the family/extended family/friends homes of all who voted against it. Sounds fair to me
God has helped us all to realize vengence is wrong and that only God can judge. You would think they would have put this on a tablet or something.
This is NOT what the people of Kansas want. These folks better think again before passing this, as they will be out of office so fast their heads will spin.
Sickening. Totally sickening. Vote out every senator who voted yes. They are sick!
Would Tim Owens feel the same way about the death penalty if his wife was brutally raped and murdered like Jodi Sanderholm or Kelsey Smith? Or was tortured like those five victims were by the Carr brothers? He probably lives in his nice $500,000 home in Overland Park and doesn’t have to worry about violent crime. He is not living in the real world. VOTE OUT SEN. OWENS!
Vote out all incumbents; put this issue on the ballot for the voters since it is our tax money; but NO they will ignore the rights of the people
yiff,
The whole Criminal Justice system is built on the idea of judging and vengeance against those who break the laws of society. If you think Jesus was against the idea of judging and laws for an orderly society then you have misunderstood his message.
This is an outrage! Where is justice for Heather Muller, Brad Heyka, Aaron Sander, Jason Befort, Jodi Sanderholm and Kelsey Smith? I agree with kskitty. This is not what the people of Kansas want! WE WANT JUSTICE AND WE DEMAND JUSTICE. Justice was served to the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and the punishment fit the crime. To the Senators who voted “Yes”, I think you should have to meet with the victim’s families and explain to them why you repealed the death penalty.
Any legislator who votes to eliminate the death penalty will himself receive a jolt come November went the voters remove him from office….The problem with the death penalty is that we have government officials in the executive and judical branches, who are too weak, too spineless to administer it effectively. We need somebody who will let “Old Sparky” rip!
Seriously folks; Nothing will change from these politicians unless you stand up and join forces to get them voted out of office. Most are voted in with few votes due to apathy of Kansas voters. Join together and make a difference!