USA - Kentucky. A bill to abolish the death penalty has been defeated by the House Judiciary Committee on a 8-9 vote

HB 203, aimed at abolishing the death penalty in Kentucky, has been defeated by the House Judiciary Committee on a 8-9 vote. The bill’s sponsor was Sen. Gerald Neal (D). The measure proposed replacing the death penalty with life in prison without parole. It stalled Wednesday when it failed to muster enough support in the House Judiciary Committee. Death penalty opponents said the hearing represented progress in their campaign to end capital punishment. A former prosecutor and a former judge condemned the death penalty during the hearing. They pointed to the millions of dollars spent to prosecute and defend death penalty cases during years of appeals. They said the system sometimes puts innocent people on death row. Kentucky has executed three people since it reinstated the death penalty in 1976.