The planned Nov. 13 execution of Thomas Creech, Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate, has been delayed , giving members of a local anti-death penalty group a little more time to state their case.
A new group, Idahoans Against the Death Penalty , held a small gathering Friday afternoon in front of the Idaho State Capitol.
“There is a group of us from across the state of Idaho that recognizes that execution is not the only way to keep Idahoans safe from murderers,” the Rev. Karen Hernandez, of the United Methodist Church, said at the gathering of about a dozen people.
Hernandez noted that the state plans to spend nearly $1 million to build a facility that would accommodate death by firing squad, a method for execution approved by the state Legislature in 2023 in case lethal injection is not possible.
“This money could be much better spent supporting the families of crime victims or the victims themselves,” Hernandez said. “That money could be better spent intervening in the lives of youths who are headed toward a life of crime or violence.”