Halfway There

Well yesterday the Montana State Senate passed SB 306 to abolish Montana's death penalty. Vote was close, 27-22. Now on to the House, which is republican controlled. I do believe the winds of change are blowing nationwide regarding death penalty. So many states have recently been looking at the legality of lethal injection and in fact if our death penalty is not repealed this legislative session, a suit challenging the legality of our protocol will be filed. We already know from a ruling last summer that the procedure used at Montana State Prison is not the one spelled out in statute. The cruel and unusual factor may be the turning point as another state with our same procedure has already ruled it unconstitutional. All those who argue against abolishing the death penalty use emotional, illogical and often religious arguments. Recent testimony included "this is not a matter of vengeance" and "it's not an economic issue" both arguments of course are false. It reminded me of junior high girls who would say things like "not to be mean or anything" or "I'm not trying to be a bitch" which of course mean they were exactly trying to be mean and bitchy. Death Penalty is about vengeance and it is about our tax dollars being wasted on costly appeals which means all Montanans are subsidizing state sponsored death, like it or not. The most compelling argument I heard was the simple fact that if it's not a fair and just system, equally applied to all regardless of color or income or the ability to hire a great lawyer, the system needs to be changed.