---
title: 'NEW VOICES: Retired Colorado Judge Changes Mind on Death Penalty'
description: 'Leland Anderson served as a judge in Jefferson County, Colorado, sentencing one man to death while sparing another. In a recent op-ed in The Denver Post…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-voices-retired-colorado-judge-changes-mind-on-death-penalty'
section: news
date: '2013-03-11T17:42:23-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:34:34-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! **Leland Anderson** served as a judge in Jefferson County, **Colorado**, sentencing one man to death while sparing another. In a recent op-ed in *The Denver Post*, Anderson wrote how those cases affected him: “Those cases continue to haunt me even to this day, many years after having signed off on the decisions with a trembling heart.” He said his views on the death penalty have changed since he was on the bench: “I have had much time to reflect on the experience of judging another person’s life or death. The conclusion I have reached is that I can no longer support the death penalty even though I once voted in favor of executing a man…. What I have finally come to realize is that I cannot support the death penalty because what I hold dearest in life is the promise of redemption.” Anderson concluded “that the death penalty represents an anti-life force in society,” and called for an end to capital punishment.

(L. Anderson, "[Abandon the death penalty, retired judge urges](http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2013/03/07/abandon-the-death-penalty-retired-judge-urges/35069/)," Denver Post, March 7, 2013). Colorado's legislature will be taking up a bill to repeal the death penalty. See **[New Voices](/new-voices?did=482&scid=16)** and [**Recent Legislation**](/recent-legislative-activity?did=236&scid=40).