USA - South Dakota. Senate Committee has voted down a bill that would have repealed the death penalty

The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted down a bill that would have repealed the death penalty in South Dakota. The Committee defeated the bill by a vote of 7 to 2. Supporters said the bill would have replaced capital punishment with a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. The main sponsors of the bipartisan bill were Democratic Sen. Bernie Hunhoff, and Republican Rep. Steve Hickey, who's also a pastor. A similar bill was defeated 7-6 in the Legislature last year as well.