DEATH PENALTY REFERENDUM COULD GO TO VOTERS
Friday, April 28th, 2006 -- 10:16 PM
An Assembly committee chaired by an area lawmaker sent a resolution on the death penalty to the full legislature Thursday.The resolution would send a non-binding referendum to Wisconsin voters asking if the state should restore the death penalty.
The Assembly Criminal Justice Committee, chaired by Rep. Scott Suder of Abbotsford, voted 7-5 to send the measure to the full Assembly.
The Senate already approved the measure, but seeing the Assembly version has been amended, they?d need to pass it again.
The question now asks, "Should the death penalty be enacted in the state of Wisconsin for cases involving a person who is convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, if the conviction is supported by DNA evidence?''
The death penalty has been banned in Wisconsin since 1853 ? that?s the longest ban amongst the 12 states without it.
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