Kris Kobach: The only problem with Kansas’ death penalty is that it takes too long | Opinion
In a recent guest commentary for The Star, Kansas state Sen. Carolyn McGinn and public defender Kelson Bohnet argued that the death penalty in our state is a failed government program. Kansas has the death penalty, but the last time it executed someone was 1965.
There were more murderers on death row, but they died of natural causes because the executions were delayed by so many years. Parents of the victims are dying before the killers. That is the only problem with the death penalty in Kansas.
There are only nine people on death row in Kansas now. All committed unthinkable acts. Their victims include:
Carrie Williams, a 20-year-old Pittsburg State University student, murdered by Gary Kleypas in 1996
Izabela Lewicka, a 21-year-old Polish immigrant, murdered by John E. Robinson in 1999
Suzette Trouten, a 28-year-old, murdered by John E. Robinson in 2000
Jason Befort, a 26-year-old, murdered by Reginald and Jonathan Carr in 2000
Brad Heyka, a 27-year-old, murdered by Reginald and Jonathan Carr in 2000
Heather Muller, a 25-year-old, murdered by Reginald and Jonathan Carr in 2000
Aaron Sander, a 29-year-old, murdered by Reginald and Jonathan Carr in 2000
Mikiala Martinez, a 19-year-old, murdered by Sidney Gleason in 2004
Darren Wornkey, a 24-year-old, murdered by Sidney Gleason in 2004
Matt Samuels, a 42-year-old Greenwood County Sheriff, murdered by Scott Cheever in 2005
Jodi Sanderholm, a 19-year-old, murdered by Justin Thurber in 2007
Karen Kahler, a 44-year-old mother, murdered by James Kraig Kahler in 2009
Dorothy Wight, the 89-year-old mother of Karen Kahler, murdered by James Kraig Kahler in 2009
Emily Kahler, the 18-year-old daughter of Karen Kahler, murdered by James Kraig Kahler in 2009
Lauren Kahler, the 16-year-old daughter of Karen Kahler, murdered by James Kraig Kahler in 2009
Kaylie Bailey, a 21-year-old mother, murdered by Kyle Trevor Flack in 2013
Lana Bailey, the 18-month-old daughter of Kaylie Bailey, murdered by Kyle Trevor Flack in 2013
Three other victims — 14-year-old Reat Underwood, 69-year-old William Corporon and 53-year-old Terri LaManno — were murdered in 2014 by F. Glenn Miller Jr., who died before he could be executed.
These murderers were convicted by well-vetted jurors who determined that the appropriate punishment for the perpetrators was death. McGinn and Bohnet would deny the aforementioned justice by scrapping the death penalty altogether.
They argue that the death penalty should be abolished, because only 15 people in Kansas have received death sentences since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1994. That’s a feature not a bug. It’s revealing that the authors point to exonerated inmates who committed crimes eligible for the death penalty, but who weren’t sentenced to death as evidence to support abolishing the death penalty.
However, in Kansas, death sentence prosecutions are reserved for a narrow band of horrendous cases.
The public isn’t benefiting from the death penalty currently, because justice isn’t meted out. That must change. The Kansas judicial system should move to ensure that capital murder appeals move swiftly. And the Kansas Legislature should update its statutes so capital punishment can be carried out using modern, humane methods of execution.
We owe it to the families of the victims who have waited so long for justice to be served.
Kris Kobach is attorney general of Kansas.