USA - Missouri. Missouri Senate committee votes to abolish death penalty.

Missouri Senate committee votes to abolish death penalty. SB 816 passed the Senate General Laws and Pensions Committee on a 4-3 vote with support from 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats. The measure will head to the full Senate. "The death penalty isn't going to change without discussion," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial. "It's important we keep discussion open and allow everyone to share their opinions in order to make a change." Wieland acknowledged his bill still has a long way to go to win passage in the Republican-dominated General Assembly. There are currently 46 prisoners awaiting execution on death row in Missouri. The state executed 16 people in 2014 and 2015, more than a 1/4 of all executions nationwide in that period. The state has put 86 people to death since 1989, when executions resumed after a 24-year hiatus. The last time the Senate debated whether Missouri should have the death penalty was in April 1974.