Utah’s staunchly conservative legislature came close to eliminating the death penalty and gave serious consideration to setting up a system to grow and distribute medical marijuana – making the 2016 session a surprising one that may foreshadow future traction for progressive issues. The legislature’s newfound openness to traditionally left-leaning issues caught people’s attention. The lean toward progressive issues was led by a pair of outgoing GOP lawmakers who went all in on their bills.
Sen. Mark Madsen led the medical marijuana push while Sen. Steve Urquhart pushed the death penalty abolishment. The death penalty repeal measure was viewed as a long-shot proposal, but Urquhart framed the issue in terms that appealed to lawmakers’ libertarian leanings.
Decriminalizing marijuana and reassessing whether the death penalty is a good use of taxpayer funds are issues gaining traction among conservatives around the country, said Marina Lowe of ACLU of Utah “Talking about getting smarter with our dollars when it comes to fighting crime, and making sure we’re not needlessly putting people in jail and costing people taxpayer money, those are conservative arguments,” Lowe said.
The discussions wouldn’t have happened five years ago, showing an evolution of thought among Utah Republicans that mirrors a national trend toward a more Libertarian view on certain social issues, said Utah State University political scientist Damon Cann.
“There’s an openness to a dialogue and thoughtful conversation about a wide range of social issues that aren’t marked as being taboo for Republicans,” Cann said.
Utah’s death penalty debate is one of many around the nation examining capital punishment. Nebraska’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted last year to abolish the death penalty over a veto from that state’s GOP governor. Death penalty supporters quickly launched a petition drive, leaving Nebraska voters to decide the issue this November.
Last year, Utah lawmakers voted to reinstate firing squads as a backup method to ensure the state had a way to kill death row inmates if it couldn’t get lethal-injection drugs. Proponents of medical marijuana and a death penalty repeal vowed to come back stronger next year, buoyed by what they saw as progress this year. Rep. Greg Hughes, the Republican speaker of the House, publicly came out in support of repealing the death penalty and said it’s a position he’s privately considered for some time.
“My guess is the death penalty will be repealed in Utah in a year or two or three.”
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