![](https://img.dpic-cdn.org/images/legacy/images/Rosendale.jpg?w=150&h=150&q=60&auto=format&fit=crop&dm=1560350538&s=ac6c411f9cf32e595db43f332a364e8e)
A bipartisan group of legislators in Montana will introduce a bill to replace the state’s death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. The sponsors include two Republicans and two Democrats. A coalition of conservative lawmakers, religious groups, and human rights groups support the repeal of capital punishment. Republican Sen. Matthew Rosendale (pictured), a member of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, said his stance on the death penalty did not cost him votes. “People know where I stand on the death penalty and I still got elected by a wide margin….[I]f you stand up and say, ‘I’m against the death penalty,’ you will not lose conservative votes.” He added that conservatives, many of whom are concerned about abortion, have a variety of reasons for opposing the death penalty: “Everyone has their own reasons why they support ending the death penalty. For some folks, it’s for fiscal reasons, and other folks oppose it for moral issues.”
A similar bill passed the state Senate in 2009 and 2011, but died in the House Judiciary Committee.
Sources
J. Adams, Anti-death penalty bill revived: Group to call for life in prison without parole instead, Great Falls Tribune, February 3, 2013.
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