{"id":74669,"date":"2020-01-31T16:50:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T23:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-move-closer-to-repealing-death-penalty\/"},"modified":"2020-01-31T23:50:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T23:50:23","slug":"colorado-lawmakers-move-closer-to-repealing-death-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-move-closer-to-repealing-death-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lawmakers move closer to repealing death penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"State
State Sen. Rhonda Fields, center, joins in conversation with Rep. Donald Valdez during a joint session in the House Chambers. Fields is an Aurora Democrat whose son, Javad, was murdered in a 2005 shooting.<\/span>Kathryn Scott\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The deep and emotional tension surrounding a bill to repeal the death penalty in Colorado came alive on the Senate floor in a six-hour debate Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy having the death penalty in Colorado, we are saying to the people that murdering is wrong \u2013 unless the state does it,\u201d said Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and the measure\u2019s sponsor.<\/p>\n

The state Senate gave the bill initial approval in a 19-15 vote, which represents a major shift after last year, when a similar measure failed to advance because of Democratic infighting. A final vote in the Senate is expected Friday before the measure moves to a supportive Democratic-led House and eventually to Gov. Jared Polis, who has said he will sign the bill.<\/p>\n

The legislation, Senate Bill 100, defied party lines as three Republicans supported ending capital punishment as a sentencing option starting July 1, and two Democrats voted against it.<\/p>\n

The most passionate opposition came from Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, whose criticism of the bill helped lead to its defeat a year ago. Two of the three men currently on death row were convicted for the murder of Fields\u2019 son, Javad Marshal Fields, and his fianc\u00e9e, Vivian Wolfe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am revictimized and retraumatized every time I have to tell this story, because it\u2019s hard,\u201d said Fields, who added that Javad would have turned 37 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard because (the bill\u2019s supporters) don\u2019t get it,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey don\u2019t get it because they are on a mission. And it\u2019s harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions about fate of current death row inmates<\/div>\n

The bill would not impact the three men currently on death row in Colorado, but Polis indicated last year that if the repeal becomes law he would commute the sentences.<\/p>\n

Fields added language to the bill to ensure their sentences would remain in place.<\/p>\n

But a last-minute amendment, added by state Sen. Steve Fenberg, the chamber\u2019s majority leader, makes clear the governor still gets the final say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not allowed to preempt the governor\u2019s authority on commutations,\u201d the Boulder Democrat said.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Jack Tate, one of the bill\u2019s sponsors, said he opposes the death penalty on principle. \u201cThis is a philosophical decision. I don\u2019t support the state having the power over life and death,\u201d the Centennial lawmaker said.<\/p>\n

Fields argued that Colorado has the highest legal standard for the death penalty in the U.S. and the sentence is difficult to seek. She said it should remain a tool for district attorneys to use as they see fit.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, proposed an amendment that would have asked voters whether to repeal the death penalty. Fields also supported the idea, but it failed on a voice vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we forcing a mandate of repeal that everyone has to abide by? Let the people decide. People do want to uphold the death penalty,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n

The debate touched on faith and morality<\/div>\n

The lengthy discussion touched on everything from discrimination and justice to morality and religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe debate surrounding the death penalty is not new,\u201d said Sen. Angela Williams, D-Denver, noting that the moral argument for capital punishment \u201chas clouded Colorado for more than 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams, a Catholic, says she leaned on her faith in making her decision to support the repeal of the death penalty. She said it\u2019s not about morality, it\u2019s about justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shed no tears knowing that they will never set foot outside a prison again,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe should not meet unspeakable violence with more violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fields had just one ally from her Democratic caucus who voted against the bill, Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a theoretical conversation about ethics for me, it\u2019s about our friend and our colleague, and I\u2019m not going to ignore that,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

On the Republican side of the aisle, Sens. Kevin Priola of Henderson and Owen Hill of Colorado Springs voted in support of the bill, along with Tate.<\/p>\n

In an interview after the vote, Fields said she was disappointed that victims seemed absent from her caucus\u2019 discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people were talking about the offenders \u2013 that they don\u2019t deserve the punishment, that the offenders\u2019 treatment is cruel and unusual,\u201d Fields said. \u201cThere was very little discussion from those who support the abolishment of the death penalty talking about victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s last execution was in 1997, when Gary Lee Davis was put to death by lethal injection for raping, kidnapping and murdering a woman.<\/p>\n

There are three men on Colorado\u2019s death row currently. They are: Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap.<\/p>\n

Twenty-one states have abolished the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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