Cape Republican co-sponsors bill to end death penalty

State Rep. Kathy Swan wants to see the Missouri Legislature repeal the death penalty.

Swan is one of five Republican lawmakers and one Democratic representative who have signed on to the bill.

In addition, the measure would mandate any person sentenced to death before Aug. 28, 2016, be given life imprisonment without eligibility for probation or parole, except by act of the governor.

The Cape Girardeau Republican said her co-sponsorship of the bill is rooted in her pro-life beliefs.

"Pro life doesn't just mean pro-life at conception," said Swan, who is Catholic and the only House member from Southeast Missouri to back the bill. The Roman Catholic Church repeatedly has come out against the death penalty.

She acknowledged past legislative efforts in the state House have failed to garner enough votes to repeal the death penalty. But she said such legislation at least has started the "conversation."

She added, "It creates an awareness about this issue."

Swan said, "I am absolutely not soft on crime." But she insisted there is no justification for the death penalty, regardless of how horrific the crime.

If this bill, HB 2064, became law, convicted murderer Russell Bucklew would not be executed.

Bucklew is on death row for the 1996 killing of a man during a crime spree in Southeast Missouri. Bucklew was convicted in 1997 for fatally shooting Michael Sanders of Cape Girardeau County in front of his two young sons, then kidnapping Sanders' girlfriend at gunpoint and raping her.

Bucklew had his death sentence stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2014. Attorneys for Bucklew and fellow Missouri death-row inmate Ernest L. Johnson claim medical conditions would make lethal injection too painful and have suggested the gas chamber as an alternative way to carry out their death sentences.

Bucklew's attorneys also have suggested death by firing squad.

State Rep. T.J. Berry, a Republican from Kearney, is the chief sponsor of the bill. Berry, who proposed similar legislation last year, has argued the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime when it takes an average of more than 18 years to execute someone.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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