Debate Over the Death Penalty Continues in Colorado

On the final day of the 2009 legislative session, the Senate failed by one vote to repeal the death penalty in Colorado and to transfer the money spent on endless legal battles to solve unsolved homicides instead. But while House Bill 1274's prospects of passing have ended, the debate over the policy continues.

Colorado is a de facto no-death-penalty state already, so the debate is really less relevant than one over the use of limited resources. Colorado has executed only one person in the last 40 years. During the same time period, there have been 1,435 unsolved homicides in the state.

The crime committed by Gary Lee Davis, the last executed murderer in Colorado, was horrific. But it was likely not more horrific than the thousands of murders before or since. Prosecutors in Colorado rarely seek the death penalty and jurors rarely apply it, yet we still spend $4 million of taxpayer funds yearly on legal expenses related to the death penalty.

Those resources can be better spent, and that was the goal of House Bill 1274.

Read More: Revisit death penalty bill - The Denver Post

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