Minnesota Senator Tom Neuville, the lead­ing Republican com­mit­tee mem­ber on the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee, says he will oppose Governor Tim Pawlenty’s efforts to rein­state death penal­ty. Neuville’s basic oppo­si­tion is moral: ​“If we solve vio­lence by becom­ing vio­lent our­selves, we become dimin­ished.” Neuville, a for­mer death penal­ty sup­port­er whose reex­am­i­na­tion of his pro-life beliefs led him to change his mind on the issue, feels that many of his col­leagues share his con­cerns. ​“Life is a gift from God. It isn’t up to us to take it away,” Neuville said. ​“Whether you take an inno­cent life of a baby, or of a per­son who has com­mit­ted a heinous act, it is still an act at our hands, and it makes us a less car­ing and less sen­si­tive soci­ety.” Minnesota abol­ished the death penal­ty in 1911.(Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 7, 2003). See New Voices.

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