Last month, after a bill was introduced in the Colorado legislature to abolish the death penalty, I published an article on the last person executed in Colorado, Gary Lee Davis. In the article, I highlighted why I believed the death penalty should be kept legal, and urged the legislature to defeat the bill.
Well, suffice to say, my wishes were not granted. And, today, they were finalized. On March 23, 2020, Colorado governor Jared Polis signed HB 20-100, making Colorado the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty. In addition, Polis commuted the death sentences of all three inmates on Colorado's death row.
It's no secret that I am a supporter of the death penalty, and to say that I am sickened by this would be an understatement. This is yet another stab-in-the-back to society, justice, and the citizens of Colorado. Death penalty opponents applauded the move as a "victory for justice and human rights". But this is no victory for justice or human rights. The only victors today are Nathan Dunlap, Robert Ray, and Sir Mario Owens.
Now, instead of facing the ultimate punishment for their heinous crimes, Dunlap, Ray, and Owens will all spend the rest of their lives living off of the taxpayer's dime, being provided with the very thing they denied their victims - Life.
And is that something they deserve? Do these heinous, depraved criminals deserve to keep their lives after what they have done?
Nathan Dunlap gunned down four teenagers at a Chuck-e-Cheese for a couple hundred dollars in cash. At his sentencing, Dunlap cursed out the families of his victims and the judge himself, and mocked the grieving older brother of one victim. Does he really deserve to keep his life?
Robert Ray was in prison when he ordered the murder of a witness set to testify against him - Javad Fields. Sir Mario Owens carried out the murder, shooting Fields and his fiance, Vivian Rice, to death in their car. Do they deserve to keep their lives? Robert Ray was in prison when he ordered the double-murder. Will another life sentence really do anything to prevent him from ordering a murder again?
Well, apparently, Jared Polis believes that these heinous criminals do deserve to keep their lives. And he and people like him will cite the same tired excuses and fallacies to justify their worldview.
But they are wrong. They will always be wrong. And they know they are wrong. Why else would the proponents of this abolition bill oppose leaving the decision up to the voters? Why would they try and rush the bill through the legislature in the middle of a virus epidemic? Because they know that they are wrong. They know their constituents know they are wrong. And now, it is up to the constituents themselves to correct this atrociously wrong decision.
In Nebraska in 2015, the state legislature passed a bill to abolish the death penalty. But the voting public of Nebraska successfully petitioned to have the death penalty put on the November 2016 ballot. And, that November, the public made their preference known, voting overwhelmingly to restore the death penalty in the state of Nebraska.
That is what needs to happen in Colorado. The voting public needs to stand up and make their voices heard. This bill was passed without their approval. Now they need to challenge it.
And maybe - just maybe - true justice can one day be restored in the state of Colorado.
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