Entries tagged with “David O. Leavitt, Utah County Attorney

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…

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…