I’d just like a little consistency. Even scumbags who don’t manage to escape justice are treated differently. My state (Kansas) has a dozen people on death row...yet has not executed anybody since 1965. So even a death sentence is unequally administered among different jurisdictions.
In one recent case, in a small county, the county commission had to authorize a sizeable property tax increase, in order to conduct a death penalty trial. He was convicted...and I’m quite sure he will die in prison in around 40 years. It leads to the question - why not do some plea deal for life in prison, and skip the expense of the trial?
Around 8 years ago, our state had to defend its death penalty statute at the SCOTUS level...and its been challenged again. All that uncertainty makes one thing very certain: nobody will be executed in Kansas for decades. I’m just astonished that there isn’t some model ordinance and model amendment to a state’s constitution that can be adopted, to bring more certainty to the process.