Entries tagged with “David O. Leavitt, Utah County Attorney”
Policy Issues
Costs
,Deterrence
,Innocence
,Race
,Recent Legislative Activity
,Sep 15, 2021
Four Utah Prosecutors Urge Legislature to Repeal and Replace Death Penalty
Four Utah district attorneys, representing counties that comprise 57.5% of the state’s population, have urged the state legislature and Utah Governor Spencer Cox to enact legislation to repeal and replace Utah’s death…
Policy Issues
Deterrence
,Innocence
,Victims' Families
,Recent Legislative Activity
,Sep 08, 2021
Legislators Plan New Attempt to Repeal Utah Capital Punishment Law, as Prominent County Attorney Announces He Will No Longer Seek the Death Penalty
Efforts to end the death penalty in Utah edged forward on September 8, 2021 as two Republican legislators revealed plans to introduce legislation to “repeal and replace” the state’s capital punishment law and the prosecuting attorney in the state’s second most populous county declared that he would no longer seek the death penalty in future…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Dec 30, 2021
Utah County Attorney’s Rejection of Death Penalty Reflects Broader Conservative Movement Away from Capital Punishment
When Utah County Attorney David Leavitt (pictured) announced on September 8, 2021 that his office would no longer pursue the death penalty, his decision to do so was emblematic of a broader shift in conservative thinking on the death penalty. The Republican district attorney from “a deeply conservative” county that gave Donald Trump a 41-percentage-point margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election joined what the Wall Street Journal describes as “a growing…