This past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court case of Arizona v. Ring effectively prohibited Colorado's three judge sentencing procedure in death penalty cases and the Governor sent the Colorado Legislature back into session to "fix" the problem. Coloradans Against the Death Penalty took this a this as an opportunity to lobby legislators, back abolitionist legislation, and educate the public.
We worked closely with like-minded groups such as the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Amnesty International, the ACLU, and numerous religious groups to have our message heard. In conjunction with these groups, we flew in William Nieves, an innocent man eventually released from Pennsylvania's death row, as well as Bud Welch, whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City bombing. We held a press conference during the legislative session where these men spoke, and where legislators Pat Pascoe and Rosemary Marshall discussed their opposition to the death penalty and their proposed abolitionist legislation.
The legislature eventually passed a bill reverting to the unanimous jury sentencing system. Fortunately, we avoided more draconian measures such as a "super-majority" jury bill that would allow the death penalty with a 10-2 jury vote. It seems clear, though, that this same issue will be at the forefront of the 2003 state session. Urge your state legislators to oppose a super-majority bill.
"My only daughter, Julie, was killed in the Oklahoma
City bombing in 1995. At first, I didn't even want trials
for Terry Nichols or Timothy McVeigh. I could have killed
them myself if I had the chance. I finally realized after
a year that this revenge and retribution was not going
to bring Julie back."
-- Bud Welch
-- The Abolitionist, Volume 1, Number 1. A publication of Coloradans Against the Death Penalty.
