By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Death penalty opponents traveled to Jefferson City today to lobby lawmakers on a bill that would place a moratorium on capital punishment in Missouri.
More than a hundred people from the Moratorium Now! campaign rallied in the Capital Rotunda.
Among their backers was State Representative Bill Deeken (R, Jefferson City). Although he supports the death penalty in principle, he's again sponsoring a bill that would place a moratorium on executions in Missouri and commission a study on capital punishment.
"If we are going to put somebody to death, we make sure we have the right person," Deeken said.
State Senator Kurt Schaefer (R, Columbia) opposes the bill.
"As a former prosecutor, somebody who's done death penalty appeals, I don't think to the extent that it's possible to have a system that's flawless, because I don't know that anything is flawless, but I think the system is as fair as it can be," Schaefer said.
Schaefer suggests that society may someday reach a point where capital punishment is no longer necessary, but says he doesn't think it's reached that point yet.