After 154 years without capital punishment, a bill to reinstate the death penalty will be reintroduced by state Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere.
Lasee is circulating the bill within the state Legislature based on the results of a November referendum. Wisconsin abolished the death penalty in 1853, and the last execution performed by the state took place in 1851.
""In the November election, the residents spoke loud and clear, passing the referendum by 55 percent of the vote,"" Lasee said in a statement on March 23.
The proposed legislation allows judges and jurors to use the death penalty in first-degree homicide cases with DNA evidence deemed particularly ""vicious."" A jury would have to unanimously request the penalty unless the defendant waives the right to a jury.
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, continues to support the results of the November referendum and any proposed legislation reinstating the death penalty.
""First of all, it's something that the people of Wisconsin overwhelmingly approved on the non-binding referendum in November,"" said Fitzgerald's spokesperson Mike Prentiss. ""There's obviously a great deal of public support for this.""
Death penalty opponent state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said he has two problems with the proposed reinstatement of the death penalty.
""Philosophically, I don't think the government should be in the business of killing unless it's absolutely necessary,"" Black said. ""We should not lower ourselves as a society to the level of the killer. Practically, there are many mistakes made, people are wrongly sentenced to death.""
Black said the language of the November referendum was misleading because it included the phrase ""DNA evidence.""
""The question on the ballot was not really written to honestly obtain public opinion,"" Black said. ""It was written to achieve a biased result towards a particular outcome.""
Both Lasee and Fitzgerald said they recognize the potential difficulty of passing such legislation in a Democratic Senate. At the very least, Prentiss said he hopes senate Democrats will hold a fair hearing on the issue because of the public support expressed in the November referendum.
According to UW-Madison political science professor of David Canon, the public support expressed in referendums makes legislators consider laws more seriously than they otherwise would.
However, Canon expressed concern over the biased wording.
""I think the thing that will work against this legislation is the specific wording of the DNA clause,"" Canon said.
