Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has pro­posed a con­sti­tu­tion­al amend­ment to rein­state the death penal­ty after near­ly a cen­tu­ry with­out it. The idea has been met with some firm resis­tance from state law­mak­ers, includ­ing crit­i­cism from Representative Keith Ellison, who not­ed, ​“The death penal­ty serves no legit­i­mate pur­pose. It’s applied unfair­ly, falling dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly on the poor, peo­ple of col­or and, in too many cas­es, on the inno­cent. It’s also a bud­get buster, sap­ping resources from edu­ca­tion, health care, and pub­lic safe­ty.” (Star Tribune, January 28, 2004) A January 2004 poll of Minnesota vot­ers admin­is­tered by the Star Tribune found that, when giv­en a choice between life in prison with­out parole and the death penal­ty for con­vict­ed mur­der­ers, 46% of Minnesota respon­dents chose prison and only 44% chose the death penal­ty. (Star Tribune, January 29, 2004) See Public Opinion. See Life Without Parole. Minnesota has con­sis­tent­ly had one of the low­est mur­der rates in the coun­try, about half of the nation­al rate, and far below states like Texas that use the death penal­ty reg­u­lar­ly. See Murder Rates by State.

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