Author of Wisconsin Death Penalty Referendum Says Law Has No Chance of Passing

Sen. Al Lasee (R‑DePere) of Wisconsin was the author of leg­is­la­tion that placed a non-bind­ing ref­er­en­dum on the death penal­ty on the state’s bal­lot in Tuesday’s elec­tion. Although 56% of the vot­ers approved the death penal­ty pro­pos­al, which required that DNA evi­dence con­firm the con­vic­tion, Lasee said there was no chance of such a law pass­ing in the near future: ​“I am a real­ist. There is no prospect,” said Lasee , a long­time sup­port­er of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. ​“The Democrats took con­trol of the Senate and Gov. Doyle got re-elect­ed.” The gov­er­nor oppos­es the death penal­ty and could veto any bill enact­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Lasee guid­ed the advi­so­ry ref­er­en­dum through the Legislature when both hous­es were con­trolled by Republicans and he was pres­i­dent of the Senate. He con­ced­ed that the DNA evi­dence require­ment would prob­a­bly have been dropped from an even­tu­al bill.
(The Capital Times (WI), Nov. 8, 2006). See Recent Legislation.