Death Penalty Moratorium – On Life Support

Soft on crime Democrats prove they are not stupid.

Assembly Bill 1121 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz to place a two year moratorium on the death penalty failed to pass out of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations yesterday which means that the bill is “dead” – or at least on life support.

Election year politics played into the decision by Assembly Democrats to hold the bill in committee. According to the AP, Koretz said, "There are enough Democrats that are worried that this would be misinterpreted - as it intentionally has been - that we made an agreement not to bring it up unless we were sure it would pass." I guess the Democrats don’t mind the idea of snuffing out the death penalty; they just don’t want the voters to hold them accountable for doing it.

Koretz vowed to revive his bill later (evidently, Assemblywoman Patty Berg won’t be administering any treatment). Rest assured though, Democrats will advance their agenda to save killers after the elections.

This reminds me of that oft repeated quote by the statesman Senator Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming) who used to say, “We have two political parties in this country, the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. I belong to the Stupid Party."