{"id":293,"date":"2010-11-17T16:57:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T22:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=293"},"modified":"2010-12-06T14:05:51","modified_gmt":"2010-12-06T20:05:51","slug":"as-a-matter-of-fact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=293","title":{"rendered":"As a Matter of Fact"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By now, almost every Iowan knows that two senseless deaths occurred in northern Iowa earlier this week.\u00a0 Two women who worked in convenience stores, one in Algona and the other in Humboldt, were shot to death after being held up by a gunman who had the loot in hand but took their lives anyway.<\/p>\n

Often, this type of murder has mounted cries for the death penalty.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a news story \u2013 not yet that I have noticed \u2013 but I suspect it will be in a matter of time.\u00a0 Many people commenting on the story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette<\/a> are calling for a death penalty.\u00a0 State 29<\/a>, a conservative blog site, has already come out with a post asking Culver where the death penalty is that he promised.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recall Culver promising enactment of reinstatement of capital punishment in Iowa.\u00a0 He supported it, but never promoted it.\u00a0 That was always Governor-elect Branstad.<\/p>\n

One reason why the issue of the death penalty has not popped up in major newscasts or other media accounts, nor should it, is that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute a minor.\u00a0 The alleged killer in these two crimes is a 17-year-old from St. Louis Park, MN. \u00a0In the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roper v. Simmons<\/em><\/a>, 543 US 551, (2005), Justice Kennedy wrote \u201cthe death penalty is disproportionate punishment for offenders under 18\u201d and the Court \u201cfinds confirmation in the stark reality that the United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty.\u201d\u00a0 Roper<\/em> at 575.<\/p>\n

Not just for juveniles, but for all murderers, reinstatement of capital punishment is no longer a viable issue in Iowa and across the country.\u00a0 In the past few years, New Jersey and New Mexico repealed their respective death penalty statutes without a lot of political fallout.\u00a0 In my estimation, it never was a decisive factor in determining whether a person supported or opposed a candidate for elective office.\u00a0 Now, it appears as though there may be truth in that.<\/p>\n

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, has issued a report* that suggests voters are rethinking their attitudes about capital punishment and they expect policymakers to do so as well.<\/p>\n

Among the report\u2019s findings:<\/p>\n