Decatur Daily

April 23, 2004

Editorial

Fledgling Attorney General Troy King has picked an inter­est­ing first major stance since being appoint­ed to office by Gov. Bob Riley.

It’s a safe one.

He’s going to fight bills that would put a mora­to­ri­um on the death penal­ty. Politically, stand­ing up against those who oppose the death penal­ty is a pop­u­lar fight in Alabama, where even los­ing the fight could be a win­ning sit­u­a­tion.

Mr. King already knows he has leg­isla­tive sup­port to fight these bills that would impose a 3‑year mora­to­ri­um as well as pro­hib­it the death penal­ty for any­one younger than 18.

What would test his met­tle would be jump­ing into the fray oppos­ing the death penal­ty and oppos­ing the exe­cu­tion of any­one under 18. But that’s not going to hap­pen because that’s not good for a polit­i­cal career in Alabama.

Both of these bills, intro­duced by state Sen. Hank Sanders, a Selma Democrat, and approved by the State Judiciary Committee, deserve more than a cur­so­ry glance.

It’s doubt­ful much can be done about Alabama’s death penal­ty. But some­thing could and should be done about exe­cut­ing those under 18. Most states don’t allow this and almost all coun­tries have stopped exe­cu­tions of youth­ful offend­ers.

If Mr. King wants to be remem­bered as a great attor­ney gen­er­al, he should study these bills and deter­mine, pol­i­tics aside, what is best for Alabama.

Especially the bill that sup­ports drop­ping the death penal­ty for those under 18.

Sources

Decatur Daily