Lawmakers Grapple with Tough Issues

HELENA -- A bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Montana was narrowly voted down in committee last week on a 9-10 vote.

House Bill 366, sponsored by Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula, would have replaced a death sentence with life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Hertz said the bill represented productive use of tax dollars, a pro-life philosophy from “conception until natural death,” and the notion of an offender’s redemption for their crimes.

“I cannot in good conscience claim to be pro-life and support a system that takes innocent life at the heavy hand of a government i...