It makes the 22nd state without a death penalty.
Colorado House passes bill today:
DENVER – The bill to repeal Colorado’s death penalty cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday afternoon in a 38-27 vote in the House of Representatives, and the governor’s office says he will sign the measure in what is expected to be one of the most consequential moments of the 2020 legislative session.
The measure passed its third reading Wednesday morning after passing its second reading early Tuesday morning after an 11-hour debate period. There was more than five hours of emotional testimony from lawmakers before the final vote Wednesday. Passage of the bill, HB20-100, was all-but a foregone conclusion after the bill cleared the Senate late last month because of the strong Democratic majority in the House.
Open thread
japa21
Yes!!!
JPL
Good. The death penalty is all about revenge and serves no useful purpose in deterrence
WaterGirl
The arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. ~Martin Luther King
Brachiator
This is very good news.
Adam L Silverman
So you’re saying that Colorado sentenced the death penalty to death?
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Yes, and Hitler killed the guy who killed Hitler!
Colorado is ahead of California now (and good on you!) but the Governor I believe has stated he will not have any executions while he’s in office. Repeals always fail at the ballot here, so it’s up to the Leg to handle this. Seems obvious, but what do I know?
debbie
The very Republican Governor here in Ohio is making noises about ending the death penalty. His party is unhappy with his position and his statement that pro-life means anti-death penalty.
Roger Moore
@debbie:
God Angrily Clarifies ‘Don’t Kill’ Rule
sherparick
Thank you Colorado.
“Deserves it! (Death), I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And more that die deserve life!. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so eager to deal out death as judgement.” Surprisingly, these lines spoken by Gandalf in LOR on my 3d reading of it, after I read Paul Fussell’s “The Great War and Modern Memory” helped me to realize how morally impossible the death penalty is. Strange the things that can turn our minds.t
laura
This is actual high quality good news.
Bonnie
I’m glad something good happened somewhere today.
Splitting Image
Good for Colorado, former red state and proof that voting matters.
This scene made an impression on me, too. Gandalf and his creator have it exactly right.
Omnes Omnibus
Good.
satby
Yes, good! Still too many have it on the books, but every state that drops it is another step in the right direction.
J R in WV
W VA did away with the death penalty many years ago, and so far every attempt to reinstate it has failed!
My dad always believed that it was only appropriate in cases where the defendant was already serving time, attacks on COs or fellow inmates, which makes some sense.
Good for Colorado!