Advocates rally to abolish the death penalty in Dover

DOVER, Del. – Advocates took to the state capitol today for a rally to abolish the death penalty in Delaware.

“Why are we killing people who kill people to show people that killing is wrong?” asked Kevin O’Connell, Chief Defender of the Office of Defense Services.

Kevin O’Connell with the Delaware Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty calling out the death penalty. Lawmakers and advocates rallied together Tuesday saying it’s time, once and for all to abolish the death penalty in the first state. The Coalition saying it’s not the answer for justice. “It’s not a deterrent there’s statistics now showing that it doesn’t bring victims closure, it’s racist in its application, in Delaware particularly it is a huge huge waste of our criminal justice resources,” said O’Connell. “It doesn’t end peoples grief, it doesn’t end peoples agony about people who’s been killed or lost in their family. I don’t think that it serves a redemptive purpose at all,” said Sally Milbury-Steen, a member of the Delaware Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Currently, in the General Assembly, there is a bill to keep the death penalty. O’Connell says those in favor believe capital punishment ensures the victim is put first. “I stand with the victims, we stand with victims too, if you want to effectively stand with victims you don’t give them a symbol of justice in killing the killer,” said O’Connell.

House Bill 70 replaces the death penalty with life in prison without parole and House Bill 301 would eliminate it altogether. Bill sponsor Sherry Dorsey Walker says she’s hopeful that those who’ve done the crime will do the time, this time with a second chance. “We can get it across the finish line and we can finally start saving lives. While these individuals are incarcerated for life they will experience a shift in the atmosphere and they too will change their lives, but wouldn’t it be sad if we’ve killed them and they haven’t had the opportunity to change their lives?” asked Representative Sherry Dorsey Walker.

The bills made it through the committee and representative Sherry Dorsey Walker hopes to get the bills on the agenda this week or in June. The coalition is hopeful the bill will pass with the General Assembly in a more progressive direction with 64% of Delawareans in support of it.