DENVER (CBS4) — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and multiple other criminal justice leaders in the state are joining a push to abolish the death penalty in the United States.
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Weiser and several district attorneys are among a bipartisan group of nearly 100 criminal justice leaders from across the country who sent a letter to President Joe Biden — urging the new administration to take immediate action to end the death penalty, and commute the sentences of those on death row.
The letter cites racial injustice and states, “our nation’s reputation in the eyes of the world [is] in dire need of repair.”
“The death penalty is not just, it causes decades of delays for the victim’s loved ones, runs the risk of wrongful convictions that cannot be reversed, and wastes taxpayer dollars,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty, from Colorado’s Twentieth Judicial District, stated. “The federal government should follow Colorado’s lead; the time has come to end the use of the death penalty.”
Other criminal justice leaders from Colorado who joined in the effort include:
- Frank Dubofsky, Former Judge, Colorado Court of Appeals
- Jean Dubofsky, Former Justice, Colorado Supreme Court
- Beth McCann, District Attorney, Second Judicial District, Colorado
- Murray Richtel, Former Judge, Twentieth Judicial District Court, Colorado
To read the full letter and see all the signers, click here.