I blogged a last week about how the recent cop killing in Bernalillo County makes the death penalty a hot issue in this election year. One source told me it would be a touchy subject for the Democratic candidates for attorney general, who could alienate the Catholic Church and Northern New Mexico liberals by supporting the death penalty or the rest of the state by opposing it. I called on those candidates, three Democrats and one Republican, to go on the record by sharing their stances on the death penalty.
I have sent out two e-mail requests for statements from the candidates in the past week. On Thursday, I heard back from Democrat Geno Zamora’s campaign.
“Geno believes that the death penalty is necessary in limited cases, such as those that exist in statute: murder for hire, murder of a child, murder during rape, murder of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty, murder of a corrections officer in prison, and murder of a witness to a crime,” wrote Zamora’s campaign manager, Allan Oliver. “At the same time, he strongly advocates for additional funding for DNA testing and a proper legal defense of the accused – both to assure that the case is not later overturned, and to guarantee that the guilty are punished and the innocent go free.”
The other candidates have not yet responded to my request.
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Though I haven’t blogged on the national immigration debate, it’s an important topic to address. Here are some links to what others are saying that I found interesting:
An interesting Albuquerque Journal article
So ends another week in the Land of Enchantment. Thanks for reading, and come back Monday!