Colorful developments from the Centennial State

Thanks to two posts from TalkLeft, I see that there are colorful sentencing developments from the great state of Colorado: Colorado House Votes to Repeal Death Penalty and Denver Post Urges Feds to Legalize Marijuana.  Though these developments surely do not mean that all state capital defenders in Colorado should give up their day jobs to start making plans for opening up a head shop, they do provide yet another interesting sign of the current crime and justice times.

I would be grateful to hear from anyone truly in the know about the chances of Colorado formally repealing the death penalty.  This local report suggests that the biggest question now is whether the Governor would sign off on a repeal bill:

The Colorado House approved a plan Tuesday to eliminate the death penalty and use the money to focus on cold cases.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where it’s expected to pass. Gov. Bill Ritter, a former prosecutor, hasn’t said whether he would sign the bill.