The lead sponsor of legislation that would have reinstated the death penalty in Iowa says scheduling conflicts have doomed the bill and it will not be considered again THIS year. Republican Jerry Behn of Boone has been trying to reinstate capital punishment in Iowa since he was first elected to the senate in 1996.

Behn’s bill ONLY would have allowed a death sentence when someone was convicted of kidnapping, rape and then the murder of the victim.

 

Connie Ryan of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa says it would have been “surprising” to see Iowa reinstate capital punishment.

 

Iowa outlawed capital punishment in 1965. Three decades later, in 1995, the Iowa Senate overwhelmingly rejected a bill that would have reinstated the death penalty. Only 11 of the 50 senators voted for it.