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A Bill to return the death penalty to Iowa in a strictly limited fashion, passed a sub-committee yesterday. Senate File 14 would allow the State to execute people who kidnap, sexually abuse and murder a child.
Sen. Julian Garrett (R-Indidanola) said we need a return of capital punishment in Iowa to make child rapists think twice before killing their victims.
"If someone has kidnapped and raped a young person, it doesn't take too much intelligence to think that if [the victim is] released, she's probably going to report to somebody. That creates an incentive to kill the victim so that she can't report the crimes that have been committed. That's the justification for making this very limited bill to reinstate the death penalty," he said
The Bill passed the sub committee on a 2-1 vote and now heads to the full Judiciary Committee where it will be up to Senator Brad Zaun to decide if it gets a hearing. He has said he plans to take up the Bill.
For it to become law it would need to pass that committee, the full Iowa Senate and then that exact same procedure in the House before it would head to the Governor's desk. She could sign or veto it at that point.
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