EDITORIAL: State lawmakers should consult Nevada voters on death penalty

Nevada is one of 30 states that allows for the execution of those convicted of capital crimes. Legislative Democrats hope to change that.

Support for the death penalty has fallen in recent years. A 2018 Pew Research poll found that 54 percent of Americans favored capital punishment. Although that signified a 5 point increase from 2016, it was the second-lowest level of support for the death penalty since the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the practice in 1976.

While Nevada enforces the death penalty in theory, in practice the state does not. There are 82 inmates on death row in Ely. But Nevada has conducted only one execution in the past 15 years, that taking place in 2006. Last year, legal issues blocked the state from carrying out the lethal injection of convicted killer Scott Dozier, even though he had waived all appeals and expressed a desire to die. He eventually hanged himself in his cell.

Hoping to capitalize on waning public sentiment for the practice, lawmakers Ozzie Fumo and James Ohrenschall, both Las Vegas Democrats, have introduced Assembly Bill 149, which would outlaw capital punishment in the state. Those currently awaiting execution would have their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole.

“We waste so much money pretending to be harsh on crime and putting people into custody and telling them we’re going to kill them, and it never happens,” Mr. Fumo said. “This bill will just codify what the will of the people is, and it’s to stop this absurdity.”

The irony here, of course, is that the reason many executions “never happen” is because death penalty opponents have become particularly adept at manipulating the legal system to bog down the practice with various appeals and objections. Death penalty cases are inherently expensive for obvious reasons, but the costs are often exacerbated by well-coordinated activists and groups whose goal is to end capital punishment.

Nevertheless, there are reasonable and compelling arguments on both sides of this debate. Racial disparities and unequal application of the death penalty resonate with many people, as does the horrific possibility of executing an innocent man or woman. On the other hand, shouldn’t society have a mechanism for dealing with those who commit particularly unconscionable crimes? If the Oct. 1 shooter had been captured alive, would Mr. Fumo argue that taxpayers should pay his room, board and medical care for the rest of his life?

Mr. Fumo says AB149 will simply impose the “will of the people.” Maybe. Maybe not. But perhaps before legislative Democrats unilaterally slide this measure through in Carson City, the best course of action would be to ask Nevada voters in an advisory ballot question whether they favor abolishing capital punishment.