Neal calls for end of executions in Nevada

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, wants to commute the capital sentences of the 88 men and one woman on death row and abolish capital punishment.

Neal said the the tide is turning against the death penalty and he promises a "good hearing" when the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up his bill, which was introduced Tuesday.

He noted that Illinois Gov. George Ryan suspended executions in that state and that the Catholic Church has voiced rising opposition to the death penalty.

"We know the death penalty does not deter people from killing other people. It's been used for vengeance. And the state should not be in the business of vengeance," Neal said.

Neal was the only one who signed on the bill, Senate Bill 254, in the Senate but noted there were several assemblymen who co-sponsored it, including Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, the chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

He is trying to contact Sister Helen Prejean of "Dead Man Walking" fame to come to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says there will be a representative of the Catholic Church and he hopes to get Mike McCann, district attorney of Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, to appear.

Neal has introduced the bill "three or four" times in the past but has never gotten it past the Senate.

While the public may still favor capital punishment, he said it is up "to those in the Legislature to lead the way."

Of the 88 people on death row, 45 are white, 34 are black, and seven are Hispanic. One is Cuban and another's race is listed as "other."

The last execution in Nevada was that of Alvaro Calambro in April 1999. Since 1979 there have been eight executions in the state.

Neal, a Catholic, said he has been a longtime advocate of abolishing the death penalty.

His bill would commute the sentence of those on death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"We could not say we are opposed to capital punishment and then say it does not apply to those who have already been sentenced to death," Neal said.

Neal said further justification for his bill is that many people sentenced to death were later found to be innocent.

Neal is also opposed to the death penalty in cases where the person pleads guilty and asks to be executed.

"I believe we can create a better society without the death penalty," he said.