Kansas death penalty bill alive again



March 5, 2009
TOPEKA | A bill to abolish the death penalty in Kansas is headed to 
the Senate for debate after a committee reversed ourse.

Opponents of the death penalty are pushing the issue by arguing that 
the state can’t afford capital punishment.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-5 today to endorse the bill, a 
day after it had voted to send the bill to a study committee this 
summer.

Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, a Thayer Republican, changed his vote, saying 
he felt it’s time to give the Senate a chance to debate the matter.

The bill calls for an end to death sentences after July 1. But it 
would allow for inmates who already had been sentenced to be put to 
death, including 10 people already on Kansas’ death row.

The Associated Press

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/17493