House Committee to hear bill abolishing death penalty in Missouri

By: Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -- A Missouri House Bill abolishing the death penalty is set to head to committee Monday for a public hearing.

Sponsored by Rep. Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), House Bill 2153 will remove the death penalty as a sentencing option and have only life imprisonment without parole as the maximum punishment.

The bill adds that those currently sentenced to death will keep the sentence unless another law changes it.

Capital punishment is currently used for first-degree murder or other Class A felonies in the state. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 102 people have been executed since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.

23 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, have abolished the death penalty.

Murphy has also gained the support of the bill from the Archbishop of St. Louis, Mitchell Rozanski and Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold).

The hearing is set for noon Monday in House Hearing Room 5 by the Corrections and Public Institutions Committee. The committee is accepting public testimonies.