Blunt backs mandatory death penalty for those who kill police officers, prison guards

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt wants Missouri to create a mandatory death penalty for criminals who murder a police officer or prison guard, but experts on capital punishment believe the courts would strike down such a law.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that other states' mandatory death penalty laws were unconstitutional, and it hasn't reversed course. Thirty-eight states have capital punishment laws, but Missouri apparently would be the only one in the nation to try to impose a mandatory death penalty.

"It would be a major change to allow a mandatory death penalty. It would upset 30 years of law," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "Human dignity is embodied in the Eighth Amendment. Not to take into account the human characteristics of the defendant in sentencing would be unconstitutional."

So two days after the State of the State address in which Blunt called for mandatory executions, his office softened the tone. Spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said Friday that the proposed legislation would allow criminals a chance to prove other circumstances that could spare their lives, although she indicated the death penalty would be mandatory without any mitigating factors. Under current law, some of the mitigating factors juries consider when deciding whether to impose the death penalty include having no prior criminal record and the person's age.

Even that idea may go against the judicial principle that the government, not the defendant, must prove its case for a conviction or sentence, a legal expert said.

"It would raise serious constitutional issues so long as they say it's mandatory that the jury has to impose it," said Edward Hunvald, a professor emeritus of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

Another hurdle to the proposal is that a federal judge has effectively blocked Missouri from carrying out executions, finding the state's lethal injection procedures could subject condemned prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment.

The Missouri governor's proposal also comes at a time when capital punishment is being scrutinized around the nation. The number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated 30 years ago, and executions fell to the fewest in a decade.

In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled against mandatory death penalty laws in North Carolina and Louisiana. The Louisiana law applied the automatic death penalty to particular offenses, including killing a law enforcement officer.

The North Carolina law made death the penalty for anyone convicted of first-degree murder.

In 1987, the Supreme Court again ruled against mandatory capital punishment, turning aside a Nevada law that imposed death on a criminal who killed someone while in prison for another murder.

The exact wording of Blunt's proposal hasn't been released. Killing a law enforcement officer is already one of 17 aggravating factors a Missouri jury can consider in deciding whether to impose the death penalty on someone convicted of first-degree murder.

Warren County prosecutor Mike Wright said he needs to see the bill before deciding whether to support it, but he agreed there are constitutional concerns. He also said prosecutors generally have concerns with mandatory sentencing laws.

"Not all cases are the same. Each case has its own specific fact situation, which is the reason we have ranges of punishments for virtually all our offenses," said Wright, chairman of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys' legislative committee. "When you start saying it is a specific sentence for a specific crime and there's no movement on it, it can cause problems in the prosecution of the case."

Blunt's idea is drawing cautious reaction from legislators.

"Obviously, politically it's very popular," said House Speaker Rod Jetton of Marble Hill, a Republican like Blunt. "But sometimes ... there could be a situation where that kind of death occurred and maybe the death penalty would be a tad bit too harsh. That's kind of why you have judges to look at those situations."

House Judiciary Committee chairman Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, called the idea "very intriguing" and said some might want to expand the mandatory death penalty to include other offenses, such as the murder of a child that also involves a sex crime.

"You will see many members of the General Assembly that will look to add to the list," he said.

Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, supports Blunt's idea but doubts it could stand up in court. Still, he noted the Supreme Court's members have changed, so there's always a chance of a different interpretation.

He also said singling out murderers of law enforcement has merit.

"You show an enormous disrespect for the law and no fear," he said. "Cop killers are a special class of murderers."