Colorado becomes the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty

Colorado officially abolished the death penalty on March 23, 2020 when Governor Jared Polis signed the bill into law. Governor Polis also commuted the sentences f the three men on Colorado's death row to life without the possibility of parole.

As the Executive Director of Witness to Innocence, a national organization run by and for death row survivors and their family members, I applaud Colorado Governor Jared Polis for signing a bill to abolish the death penalty in his state. The death penalty should fall throughout the nation, because an innocent person could be executed. It can happen to anyone in America. I know this because it happened to me and 167 others. Now it can't ever happen in Colorado.

Governor Polis, we thank you on behalf of our board and our exonerees members.

Kirk Bloodsworth Executive Director

Read the statement from the European Union here.