• Victims and Law Enforcement Support Kentucky Death Penalty Review Legislation to estab­lish a com­mis­sion to exam­ine Kentucky’s death penal­ty and report its find­ings to the General Assembly has gained sup­port from for­mer law enforce­ment offi­cials and vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers. The bill, pro­posed by Rep. Tom Burch, would require the task force to review whether cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment deters crime, is applied fair­ly, and is still accept­able to the pub­lic. It would mark the first time in four decades that the state has exam­ined its death penal­ty laws. During a recent House Judiciary Committee hear­ing on the mea­sure, Nancy Rowels, whose broth­er was mur­dered, said, ​“My per­son­al pref­er­ence would be that there be no more vio­lence in my name.” She said she favors life with­out parole over the death penal­ty. Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, a for­mer pros­e­cu­tor who once sup­port­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, said he sup­ports Burch’s mea­sure. Crenshaw said his doubts about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment came after defend­ing a young man who was charged with cap­i­tal mur­der but was cleared before tri­al. ​“We want to make sure we are not mak­ing mis­takes,” he stat­ed. Burch’s bill has sparked con­ver­sa­tion about whether Kentucky should retain cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Former Kentucky Chief Justice John Palmore said he sup­port­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment when he was a young pros­e­cu­tor, but now he’s ​“not so hot for it any­more.” Noting that he is not sure the death penal­ty accom­plish­es any­thing, Palmore said, ​“It would­n’t both­er me at all if exe­cu­tions were abol­ished. I still have that feel­ing that comes from child­hood that some peo­ple are so bad, that they have done such bad things, that we ought to get ride of them. But there are some things you can’t get rid of.” Currently, there are 40 peo­ple on death row in Kentucky. The state has exe­cut­ed two peo­ple since it rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1974. (The Courier-Journal, March 12, 2007)