New Mexico chooses not to kill anymore . . .

New Mexico has outlawed the death penalty. Not by judicial order, but by act of the state legislature, by the will of the people. It is only the second state in the union to have done so since the death penalty was re-instated in the mid seventies by the U. S. Supreme Court.

After both houses of the New Mexico legislature passed the legislation doing away with capital punishment in that state, its fate was in the hands of former presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson for his signature. Richardson had been a proponent of the death penalty for his entire political life.

I am against the death penalty. But that is not what this post is about. I just found it refreshing the process that Governor Richardson went through to reach his ultimate decision to sign the legislation, making it the law of New Mexico as of August 1 of this year.

First he went to mass at the Catholic Church he attends and prayed.

Then he went to the prison at which executions were conducted in New Mexico. He talked with prison officials, looked at the conditions, and reviewed the history of those who are sentenced to be killed by New Mexico.

Bill Richardson did not speak of any big revelations, or transformations in his own beliefs. He spoke in practicalities. He said that he did not have sufficient faith in the criminal justice system that the decision of life or death should be in the state's hands. He said after visiting the prison, he was convinced that life without parole was a more just option for the most heinous offenders. So based on these practical observations, he signed the bill.

Executions in the United States have dropped dramatically in America in the past five or six years, mostly due to the realization that the justice system is not perfect. Perhaps it will go away quietly by attrition.

But it is refreshing to hear of a government acting bravely and proactively to do the right thing, taking a stand. We are not yet used to seeing government act as government should, leading instead of following, or worst not moving at all.

Thank you New Mexico. Thank you Governor Richardson.