A Case Against the Death Penalty
On October 22, 2001, Richard Moore received a death penalty sentence. He had been previously convicted in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the murder of James Mahoney. The execution was scheduled for April 29, 2022, over twenty...
HB 147: Repeal and Replace the Death Penalty
This bill repeals the death penalty and replaces it with an alternative sentencing option to help prosecutors better achieve justice.
New Effort to “Repeal and Replace” the Death Penalty in Utah
This new approach aims to solve a critical problem for victim family members.
SB 30: Applying the Death Penalty to More Cases
This bill passed the Senate with a vote of 22-3 and the House with a vote of 39-29. The death penalty is a costly and convoluted punishment that does not deter crime and is often unjustly applied to innocent people. We have...
The Graveyard of Bad Policy Ideas
Beware the graveyard of bad policy ideas. Just when they seem to be defeated once and for all, they rise up from the grave again. We affectionately call these policy ideas “zombies.”
New Poll Shows Large Majority in Utah Favor Moving Away from the Death Penalty
A new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, and commissioned through the Utah Justice Coalition, reveals changing attitudes toward the death penalty by Utah residents. The survey of 784 Utah voters, conducted from January 13...
30-Year Prosecutor Shares Thoughts on the Death Penalty and a Career of Law Enforcement
Editor’s note: The following is a lightly edited interview with Creighton C. Horton II, a retired Utah prosecutor who spent 30 years prosecuting cases in Utah in Salt Lake County and in the Attorney General’s office. His...
SB 189: Repealing The Death Penalty In Utah
This bill passed the Senate 15-12 but was not considered by the House. Libertas Institute supports this bill. We have written extensively about the problems associated with the death penalty in our policy brief and recent op-ed....