House Moves To End The Death Penalty

The Denver Post
Colorado's death penalty took one step toward the grave Wednesday as lawmakers in the state House gave initial approval to a bill that would end capital punishment and use the savings to solve cold cases.

Debate ranged from the morality of the state putting criminals to death to the effectiveness of the penalty as a deterrent to crime.

In the end, five Democrats joined Republicans in opposing House Bill 1274, but it wasn't enough to kill the legislation.

House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, the bill sponsor, said he's not celebrating just yet as the role call vote of the House Thursday will be challenging.

He's pitching his bill as a way to reduce state expenses and increase public safety by helping to put away some of Colorado's 1,400 unconvicted murderers.

"You can debate all day long the morality of the death penalty. 'Eye for an eye.' 'Thou shall not kill.' You'll never resolve it," said Weissmann, D-Louisville. "Any other part of government that spent this much money and was so rarely used, would be one of the first things we set out to cut."