Join us at the 2025 Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty Conference!   This year we will reflect and learn together under the theme of Repeal to Heal: Death Penalty Repeal Advances the Culture of Life. Register today!   The decision to sentence someone to death is a statement that the defendant’s life is disposable.  It is a societal judgment that more violence is the answer to the act of homicide.  So instead of stopping the cycle of violence and asking how can there be acountability and healing, we replicate the original act.  More pain and trauma result. […]

In part one of this series, we looked at how capital murder is defined in state law and initial decisions by the prosecutor on charging and the question of death notice.   In part two, the focus was on decisions about going to trial or offering a plea bargain.  That brings us to decision point 3.   Decision point 3:  Jury and Judge decisions If a capital murder defendant is found guilty of capital murder and the death penalty is being sought, there is a second “trial”.  During the penalty phase, the prosecution presents evidence why death is the appropriate […]