| For Immediate Release: Dec. 3, 2015 |
Contact: Alex Zumsteg (573) 751-3931 |
JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, today introduced legislation for the 2016 session. The bill, which deals with capital punishment as a result of certain first-degree murders, comes at a particularly relevant time.
Schaefer’s new legislation adds committing murder as an act of terrorism to the list of aggravating circumstances that can be found by a judge or jury to exist in a particular case of first-degree murder in which the death penalty is justified punishment. The bill defines terrorist acts as those carried out for the purpose of intimidating or coercing a civilian population, influencing the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or affecting the conduct of a government.
In light of the events that transpired at a San Bernardino, Calif. social services center yesterday, it seems as if this legislation could come at no better time. One of the most horrifying aspects of this brutal tragedy is the confusion surrounding the two suspected attackers’ motives, the seeming lack of which has led the FBI to treat the incident as a possible terrorist attack.
“Those who commit evil acts of terror must be punished to the most severe extent,” Schaefer said. “My legislation gives prosecutors and juries greater options in seeking and obtaining justice for innocent victims.”
This new legislation is identical to SB 158 (2015), which was proposed by Sen. Schaefer last session. The bill seeks to broaden the limits of what defines statutory aggravating circumstances by adding acts of a terrorist nature to the current 17-item list of limits.