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| Death-penalty call draws fire in Minn. |
| By Pioneer Press |
| Published: 12/08/2003 |
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A broad coalition of anti-death penalty groups last Thursday condemned Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's push to reinstate capital punishment here. "The call for death has been made," said Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Laborite who led the group of two dozen lawmakers, religious leaders, attorneys, human rights activists and African-American leaders in a Capitol news conference. Members of the group identified themselves as Democrats, independents and nonpartisans. They said the death penalty is morally wrong, violates human rights, is un-fairly applied and could result in the killing of innocent people. The opponents came to the state Capitol to voice their strong concern about the death penalty following Pawlenty's remarks last Tuesday in the wake of the arrest of a convicted sex offender in the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student. Minnesota is one of 12 states that does not have capital punishment. The state abolished the death penalty in 1911 after the botched hanging of a murderer. Occasional legislative calls to reinstate the death penalty since then have failed. Since the governor, a Republican and long a supporter of the death penalty, said he would push the issue with lawmakers in 2003, members of the Legislature - both inside and outside of his party - have voiced their opposition. But it is unclear how Pawlenty's push will be received among lawmakers next year. In reaction to the opponents' news conference last Thursday, a spokesman for the governor said polling has consistently shown that a majority of Minnesotans say they support the death penalty, although those who support it seem to lack an organized voice. Legislators and all Minnesotans will likely hear the arguments against the death penalty voiced last Thursday often in the coming year. |
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