Legislators in Kansas have said they may debate the repeal of the death penal­ty in 2014. Senate Vice President Jeff King said a recent ses­sion on oth­er crim­i­nal jus­tice issues indi­cat­ed a need for a broad­er dis­cus­sion of sen­tences for mur­der. Senator David Haley, who sup­ports repeal of the death penal­ty, said, ​“I believe now is the time for a dis­cus­sion among those in the Legislature who con­sid­er reli­gion a main part of their pub­lic ser­vice to decide whether it’s nec­es­sary for a bar­bar­ic and immoral law [to] remain on the books.” A sen­ate bill to repeal cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment almost passed in 2010 with a 20 – 20 vote. Donna Schneweis, chair of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, said, ​“What we are wit­ness­ing is there real­ly is sup­port across the polit­i­cal spec­trum, includ­ing con­ser­v­a­tives, lib­er­tar­i­ans. It’s not just mod­er­ates and lib­er­als who are opposed.” Kansas rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1994, but has not had any exe­cu­tions since then.

There are 10 inmates on the state’s death row.

(J. Milburn, ​“Kansas law­mak­ers could debate death penal­ty in 2014,” Associated Press, September 15, 2013.) See Recent Legislation.

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