USA - South Dakota. Lawmakers reject bill to repeal death penalty.

SD lawmakers reject bill to repeal death penalty. The House State Affairs Committee voted 7-6 to reject a measure that would have banned the death penalty in future cases. The measure sought to leave in place the death sentences of the 3 men on South Dakota's death row, but prosecutors said the bill's language might have allowed those three to avoid execution. The bill’s sponsor was House Republican Steve Hickey. The same commission (but with a different composition of the House) in 2010 had approved a similar bill with a 10-0 vote. In 2007, the same committee had rejected the abolitionist bill 7-1, and 10-3 in 2005.