SUNBURY – Governor Tom Wolf recently announced a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania, but a Valley state representative says he doesn’t have the authority to do that.
State Representative Fred Keller (R-85th, Kreamer) spoke with WKOK about the death penalty, “If you look back in history in Pennsylvania, Governor Casey was a staunch advocate for life no matter what. There are Pennsylvanians that feel that way, that human life should not be taken. However, we do have a law that was put in place in 1995 by the special session on crime. By reading that, the interpretation is that the governor doesn’t have the authority not to sign the death warrants.”
Keller explained, “We as elected officials, whether it’s a representative, whether it’s the governor, whether it’s the attorney general, we have sworn to uphold the constitution. If that’s the law, then we should uphold it, and if we don’t like it, then we should work to get it changed.”
Governor Wolf says the moratorium will remain in effect until he has received and reviewed a report from the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on capital punishment. He says the decision is based on a flawed system, claiming 150 people have been exonerated from death row nationwide, including six in Pennsylvania.
You can hear more from Fred Keller on this and numerous other topics on WKOK Sunrise this morning during the six o’clock hour and also online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)