A "Statement from Nathan Dunlap’s attorneys re: Reprieve by Governor Hickenlooper," has just been issued. Here's the full text:
“We agree with Governor Hickenlooper’s well-reasoned decision to grant Nathan Dunlap a reprieve and indefinitely stay his execution. There has been widespread and diverse support from hundreds of people and organizations in Colorado who support permanently commuting Nathan Dunlap’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As the Governor notes in his statement, ‘Colorado's system for capital punishment is not flawless.’ Faith leaders, civil rights organizations, former judges and prosecutors, academics and many others have expressed serious concerns about Colorado’s capital punishment system, which is unfair in its application of the death penalty. Colorado’s broken death penalty system reflects racial discrimination, geographic concentration, and is used in an arbitrary manner.
The Governor also recognizes that the death penalty is not a deterrent, and ‘is not making our world a safer or better place.’ Further, as the Governor explains, ‘Colorado is not equipped to carry out a death sentence.’
Given the problems with Colorado’s use of capital punishment and the apparent inability of the Colorado Department of Corrections to move forward with a legal execution, Governor Hickenlooper made a fair and correct decision to indefinitely stay Mr. Dunlap’s execution.”
-- Philip A. Cherner and Madeline Cohen, attorneys for Nathan Dunlap
Earlier coverage of the reprieve issued in Nathan Dunlap's case begins at the link.
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