An ongoing battle over a bill to repeal Wyoming’s death penalty came to a halt when the bill failed to pass in the state Senate Feb. 14.
Republican Rep. Jared Olsen sponsored House Bill 145, which was introduced Jan. 14, along with other representatives. The bill passed in the House but was quickly shut down in the Senate with 12 senators voting for the bill and 18 against.
Capital punishment was reinstated in Wyoming in 1976, though only one execution happen since then. Mark Hopkinson was executed by lethal injection in 1992 for the murder of four individuals.
Wyoming spends an estimate of $750,000 a year to keep the death penalty. Sen. Brian Boner (R), another co-sponsor of the bill, said that’s a high price to pay for revenge in place of impartial justice.
“That’s not what the justice system is supposed to be about,” said Boner in a release. “Justice is supposed to be blind. It’s supposed to be based on reason and what brings out the best result for society. Not emotion, not retribution, not revenge.”
Some representatives argued the supposed benefits of the death penalty.
“The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me,” said Sen. Lynn Hutchings (R) in a release, referencing Jesus. “I’m grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope.”
Some, like Rep. Mike Hopkins (R), feel that the death penalty is ineffective when applied on a larger scale. Inmates spend years — sometimes decades — waiting for their sentence to be carried out. By that time, some feel, capital punishment loses its impact. Hopkins believes that it would be better to have life in prison without opportunity of parole in its stead.
However, Wyoming spends millions of dollars on imprisonment, about $35,000 to $54,000 per inmate. This raises the question on whether the death penalty is helping Wyoming’s economy or hurting it.
Wyoming is not the only state where attempting to abolish capital punishment. Kentucky and Montana representatives are also looking for alternatives.
“When you talk about death penalty, a lot of people immediately want to have a criminal justice angle on it or a morality angle. And mine is purely economics,” said Kentucky Rep. Chad McCoy (R) in a release from the Death Penalty Information Center.
The death penalty is rarely used and doesn’t have the desired impact, some officials feel. While some feel that capital punishment is necessary for morale, others just feel like it is an expensive addition to a state’s finances that no longer serves as an adequate tool for justice.
More information about the bill is available at the Wyoming’s Legislature website, WyoLeg.gov.
