A group of Wyoming legislators is hoping this is the year that they repeal the death penalty. Douglas Senator Brian Boner and Cheyenne Representative Jared Olsen are sponsoring the bill. They note that no one has been executed in Wyoming since 1992, yet the state still has to pay nearly a million dollars a year to defend cases.
While past attempts to repeal the death penalty have failed, Olsen said this year they have a large number of co-sponsors, and that makes him optimistic.
"You've got social conservatives and libertarians and that's a little more of a mix than we've had before. And then if you look at the heavy hitters on the bill we've got three-quarters of the House leadership on the bill and I did get confirmation that unless he's changed his mind, President Perkins supports the bill. "
Olsen noted that even the death penalty convictions that have occurred in the state have been overturned.
"It's worthless, all we do is spend millions…really…of taxpayer dollars on it and I think that's a burden that the taxpayers have shouldered for too long."
