Bonnie Dunham

Re: HB 1730-FN, making all offenses against minors involving sexual penetration or contact felony-level offenses punishable by death. I am writing to ask you to please oppose HB 1730-FN, making all offenses against minors involving sexual penetration or contact felony-level offenses punishable by death. I oppose this bill for several reasons: - I do not believe that in a just society, it should be acceptable to take an individual’s life, regardless of the crime they have committed. While I can understand the emotions that would drive someone to seek the death penalty, the only purpose it would serve is for revenge. That should not be the role of our criminal justice system. - The death penalty is not a deterrent; it will not make children safer. - I am concerned that this bill will cause further harm to the children it aims to protect. When a child is aware that the perpetrator will be executed if convicted, the child may feel responsible for playing a role in a person’s death, which could potentially lead to the child being an uncooperative or unwilling participant in the process. - Death is irreversible. There have been multiple instances where people on death row, and even individuals who have been executed for capital offenses have later been found to be innocent. That is a mistake that we should not be willing to risk. - This bill will be costly. In the methodology for determining the bill’s fiscal impact, the Judicial Branch states that “death penalty cases require intensive judicial resources …”, and notes that the “expanded statute could have applied to approximately 44 to 407 aggravated felonious sexual assault cases, 131 felonious sexual assault cases, and 95 sexual assault cases based on prior-year filings.” The Judicial Branch estimates that the fiscal impact “could be between $2,500,000 and $5,000,000 per year” To fund this bill, cuts in other spending will have to be made. I can think of many, many better ways to spend those multiple millions of dollars (funding law enforcement actions to prevent violent crimes and/or to solve crimes, adequately funding public education, making necessary infrastructure improvements across the state, etc.). Please vote to recommend HB 1730-FN inexpedient to legislate. Thank you in advance for your consideration of my input. Respectfully, Bonnie Dunham