DENVER – After a nine month, community-led campaign, hours of emotional testimony and much debate, SB20-100 — the bill to end the death penalty in Colorado — passed its 3rd and final reading in the House. The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk. Once signed, it will make Colorado the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.
“Thanks to the support from faith leaders, death row exonerees, District Attorneys, corrections officers and, most significantly, family members who lost loved ones to murder, Colorado has finally made the case that the death penalty is arbitrary, ineffective and does not deliver justice to family members,” said ACLU of Colorado Public Policy Director Denise Maes. “The people have spoken, and we thank the legislators for their moral leadership in putting an end to this unjust and barbaric system.”
Sen. Julie Gonzales, Sen. Jack Tate, Rep. Jeni James Arndt and Rep. Adrienne Benavidez joined the long-time efforts of community organizers to seek the end of the death penalty in Colorado. During both hearings, dozens of victim family members spoke out against a system that causes additional trauma. The