SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - A group of death penalty opponents is holding a Good Friday vigil protesting the use of capital punishment in South Dakota.
Denny Davis heads South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and says attendees will sign a notorized living will that states if they are murdered, they don't want their killer to be given a death sentence.
Davis says the death penalty is not about what they do; the death penalty is about what we do. He says we are all responsible in terms of bringing life back into that situation, not only for the person who committed the crime, but for the victim's family.
The most recent effort to repeal South Dakota's death penalty was defeated in a state senate committee a few weeks ago in Pierre.
Davis supported Republican State Senator, and retired judge, Arthur Rusch’s failed effort to abolish the death penalty in the just finished legislative session. He says the death penalty costs more than putting a convicted murderer behind bars for life.
He says death trials costs ten times the cost of a first-degree murder trial and life in prison. He adds that life without parole is a disguised form of the death penalty.
The 19th annual prayer service will be held today at noon outside the penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
(Thanks Greater Dakota News Service)