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2004 Budget Session
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Under current Wyoming law, a person convicted of murder in the first degree will be punished by death, life imprisonment without parole or life imprisonment if the defendant was 16 years old or older when the crime was committed. If the murder was committed before the defendant was 16 years old, then the defendant could not be subject to the penalty of death.
HB 5 proposed increasing the minimum age at which a defendant would be subject to the penalty of death from 16 to 18 years of age.
Supporters of HB 5 noted a growing trend across the country of states moving away from the death penalty for juveniles, as people increasingly believe that applying the death penalty to juveniles constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. They cited research showing that the consequence of a death penalty may not be meaningful for many juveniles, and noted that the death penalty has not been shown to be a deterrent to juveniles committing murder. They pointed out that a juvenile's developmental level is not equivalent to an adult's, and that they are more likely to act impulsively without thinking ahead than are most adults.
Opponents were supportive in general of the death penalty, and were not convinced that convicted 16-year-olds aren't old enough to be subject to this ultimate penalty.
HB 5 passed the House, 45-12 (3 excused) and the Senate, 23-7.
The votes listed below are third reading votes in the House and Senate.
A YES vote means the legislator wanted to raise the minimum age at which a defendant would be subject to the penalty of death from 16 to 18 years of age.
A NO vote means the legislator did not support raising the minimum age at which a person could be legally executed.
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | Yes | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | Yes | |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | Yes | |
| S 19 | Laness D. Northrup (R) | No | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | No | |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | Yes | |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | No | |
| H 27 | Jane Wostenberg (R) | No | |
| H 28 | Micheal Baker (R) | No | |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | Yes | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | No | |
| H 36 | Liz Gentile (D) | Yes | |
| S 28 | Keith Goodenough (D) | Yes | |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R) | Yes | |
| H 57 | Thomas A. Lockhart (R) | Yes | |
| S 29 | Bill Hawks (R) | No | |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R) | Yes | |
| H 59 | Mary Gilmore (D) | Yes | |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | Yes | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | Yes | |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | Yes | |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 4 | April Brimmer Kunz (R) | No | |
| H 7 | Tony Ross (R) | Yes | |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | Yes | |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | Yes | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | Yes | |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | Yes | |
| S 6 | Rich Cathcart (D) | Yes | |
| H 9 | Wayne Johnson (R) | Yes | |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | No | |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | Yes | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | Yes | |
| H 43 | Ed Prosser (R) | Yes | |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | Yes | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | No | |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | Yes | |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 23 | John Hines (R) | Yes | |
| H 31 | Jene Jansen (R) | Yes | |
| H 52 | George McMurtrey (R) | Excused | |
| S 24 | Richard A. Erb (R) | Yes | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | Yes | |
| H 53 | Frank Latta (R) | Yes | |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | Yes | |
| H 33 | Harry Tipton (R) | Excused | |
| H 54 | Del McOmie (R) | No | |
| S 26 | Robert A. Peck (R) | Yes | |
| H 34 | Frank Philp (R) | Yes | |
| H 55 | David Miller (R) | Yes | |
| Northeast/East Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 1 | C.L. Townsend (R) | No | |
| H 1 | Mark Semlek (R) | No | |
| H 2 | Ross Diercks (D) | Yes | |
| S 2 | Jim Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| H 5 | James C. Hageman (R) | Yes | |
| H 6 | Dave Edwards (R) | Yes | |
| S 3 | Curt Meier (R) | No | |
| H 3 | Deborah Alden (R) | Yes | |
| H 4 | Edward A. Buchanan (R) | Yes | |
| Sheridan-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | Yes | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | Yes | |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | Excused | |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | Yes | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | Yes | |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | Yes | |
| South Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | Yes | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | Yes | |
| H 45 | Lorna Johnson (D) | Yes | |
| S 10 | Irene Devin (R) | Yes | |
| H 14 | Phil Nicholas (R) | Yes | |
| H 46 | James Slater (R) | Yes | |
| S 11 | Bill Vasey (D) | Yes | |
| H 15 | George Bagby (D) | Yes | |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R) | No | |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | Yes | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | Yes | |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | Yes | |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | Yes | |
| H 17 | Fred Parady (R) | Yes | |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | No | |
| S 14 | Larry Caller (D) | Yes | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | Yes | |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D) | Yes | |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | Yes | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | Yes | |
| H 49 | Saundra Meyer (D) | Yes | |
| West Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/20/04 | Senate 3rd 2/27 |
|
| S 16 | Delaine Roberts (R) | No | |
| H 20 | Stan Cooper (R) | No | |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | No | |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | Yes | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | Yes | |
| H 23 | Clarene Law (R) | Yes | |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | |||