In 2009 many states have been making progress towards abolition of the death penalty.

Highlights include:

The Montana Senate passed a repeal of the death penalty by a vote of 27-23
As reported in the Helena Independent Record 2-21-09, the repeal has passed out of the Senate two years
in a row. Montana House Speaker Bob Bergren, is on record as saying that he hopes that the
bill will move out of committee and that he intends to vote for repeal.

The House of Representatives of New Mexico has passed a bill that would replace the
death penalty with life without parole. A bill abolishing the death penalty has passed out of the NM House
twice before. More can be found at the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty

In Indiana several bills have been introduced relating to the death penalty,

H1421 authored by Representative V. Smith would enact a moritorium on executions until 2012 and create a
15 member study commission.

SB 22: A bill to exempt defendants with serious mental illness from the death penalty, introduced by Sen. Karen Talian. The text of the bill is the draft recommended by the Bowser Commission in 2007, which begins with the text of the ABA resolution 122 adopted by the House of Delegates in August 2006, and adds restrictions on the definition of serious mental illness -- limiting it to 5 specified disorders, and sets out requirements for the mental health evaluations performed and the mental health experts performing them. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Richard Bray.

SB 296: A bill that would give the DOC a full 24 hours to execute a death row prisoner on the scheduled execution date, as well as requiring that condemned prisoners be housed in a Maximum Correction Facility introduced by Sen. Brent Steele and assigned to his Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters committee.

SB 172: Not a death penalty bill, but also of special importance because it would help prevent false confessions and wrongful convictions. It would require electronic recording of all interrogations conducted in police custody. Also introduced by Sen. Karen Talian, and assigned to Sen. Steele's Committee on Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters.

Follow the progress of legislation in Indiana by visiting the State's website