Just like Nebraskans, our neighbors in South Dakota are becoming frustrated with the cost of the death penalty and the risks it poses to innocent people. In fact, one of our recent events with Curtis McCarty was even covered in the Rapid City Journal!
Now, a South Dakota lawmaker is bringing death penalty abolition before the Legislature.
This Tuesday, Rep. Steve Hickey of Sioux Falls announced that he will ask the South Dakota Legislature to repeal the death penalty in 2014. Rep. Hickey, who is also a pastor, said that he changed his mind about the death penalty after fresh reflection on the Bible and on Jesus’s teachings about retributive justice.
We wish our friends in South Dakota the very best of luck as they work to put an end to the death penalty in their state.