Republicans in West Virginia are seeking to bring back the death penalty in the state as part of an effort to crack down on crime against law enforcement and punish fentanyl traffickers.
Republican state Sen. Mike Stuart announced he will introduce a bill in the state’s regular legislative session to reinstate capital punishment for cases involving the deaths of first responders or law enforcement. West Virginia is one of 23 states that has abolished the death penalty.
“If you target first responders in the line of duty leading to death, the death penalty should be on the table,” Stuart said in a statement, per the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. “This isn’t about vengeance. This is about justice.”
“Every day and every call is fraught with potentially life-threatening danger. We must defend our first responders and make clear that we will not tolerate these acts of depravity and reckless disregard for the men and women who serve to protect each of us,” the statement continued.
Republican state Senate President Craig Blair has also pushed legislation to reinstate the death penalty, telling reporters he will sponsor a bill that would reinstate capital punishment for certain drug offenses in the state.
“I want to seek capital punishment for the illicit manufacture and wholesale distribution of fentanyl,” Blair said, per Metro News.
“What we’re wanting to do is send a message out to these animals that are selling this, and manufacturing this — stay the hell out of West Virginia,” he added.
The death penalty was abolished in West Virginia in 1965 after a bill outlawing capital punishment was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Hulett Smith.
Democrats, including House Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kayla Young, have expressed their disapproval of the push to reinstate the death penalty, even on a limited basis, while the ACLU of West Virginia said the effort would take the state back 60 years.
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“The death penalty is not justice. It’s state-sanctioned murder. If you don’t want to see West Virginia take a 60-year step backwards, make sure your legislators know how you feel,” the ACLU of West Virginia said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The West Virginia legislature is scheduled to begin its regular session on Wednesday and continue through March 9. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers and hold the governorship.
