Hunter
01/19/23
State legislators are considering the reinstatement of the death penalty in Iowa for certain circumstances.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports State Senator Brad Zaun has reintroduced a bill into the Senate Judiciary Committee that could bring back the death penalty in Iowa for first degree murder convictions involving kidnapping and sexual abuse offenses against a minor.
Currently, the penalty for the rape and kidnapping of a minor and the rape, kidnapping and murder of a minor is the same. Both crimes bring a life sentence in prison upon conviction.
Zaun says without the death penalty, it’s almost an incentive for the offender to kill off the potential witness, which is why he’s pushing to reinstate the death penalty.
The website says a similar bill was introduced in 2019 and again in 2021, but did not reach the floor for a vote. Capital punishment has not been used in Iowa since it was abolished in the state in 1965 by Democratic Gov. Harold Hughes. Legislation to reinstate capital punishment has not been debated on the floor of either chamber since 1995.
Marty Ryan, president of Iowans Against the Death Penalty, fears that once the death penalty is reinstated, legislators will try to expand it to include other crimes.