# Bill named after fallen police officers would bring back death penalty to Massachusetts



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

BOSTON -

Two Massachusetts state representatives have filed a bill that would allow the state to impose the death penalty on adults convicted of murdering law enforcement officers.

The "Chesna-Gannon" bill, named after two slain police officers, would cover police, corrections officers, sheriffs and deputies. A death sentence would not be mandatory, but would be an option during sentencing.
Reps. Shauna O'Connell and David DeCoste, both Republicans, presented the proposed legislation in front of the state's Joint Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday. They were joined by the mother and widow of fallen Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna.

"My son was taken from us totally unexpectedly on a beautiful Sunday morning in Weymouth -- our hometown for almost 50 years -- doing what he loved, but dying because of it," Maryann Chesna said.

The Supreme Judicial Court invalidated the death penalty in 1984, but those sponsoring the bill said the legislation would send a strong message.

"Allowing capital punishment will help law enforcement do their job," O'Connell said. "It will save lives and it will help law enforcement keep our communities safe."

"The justice system seems to me to be broken, not bent. There is no consequence. It's arrest and release, arrest and release," Maryann Chesna said.

"The death penalty, obviously, it's a drastic measure," said Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes. "However, our hope would be that by having this codified into the law that we would never have to use it -- meaning we would hope that it would act as an effective deterrent, that individuals would know that should they commit a murder against a police officer, that the death penalty hangs in the balance."
Chesna, 42, was shot and killed July 15, 2018, while pursuing a suspect. The U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient is survived by his wife, Cindy, and two children, Olivia and Jack.

The bill's other namesake, Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon, and his K-9 partner, Nero, were shot April 12, 2018, while serving an arrest warrant in Marstons Mills. The 32-year-old officer was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The "Chesna-Gannon" bill was one of 60 bills that were on Tuesday's agenda for the joint committee. Other proposals mitigated the most severe punishments that could be imposed, including a bill that could make prisoners serving life-without-parole sentences -- including those convicted of murder -- eligible for parole after 25 years.

Rep. Antonio Cabral has a bill before the committee that would allow local sheriff's offices and corrections facilities to perform immigration enforcement only if the federal government pays for all of the related costs.
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3773


----------



## 02136colonel (Jul 21, 2018)

Great bill, but will never pass in the legislature, Baker would veto it, DAs wouldn’t seek the death penalty, judges would never sentence anyone to death, and the SJC would throw up so many procedural hurdles that no death sentence would ever be carried out.
The best option IMO is to increase federal prosecutions for the worst of the worst offenders. Get more local guys on fed task forces (FBI/DEA/ATF all have TFs with cops on them), and they’ll put the legit bad guys in federal prison for decades, and there’s no parole in the fed system.


----------



## LGriffin (Apr 2, 2009)

It is a great bill and Baker supports it but unsurprisingly, the Anti-American Criminal Litigation Unit doesn't, and they've got more money behind them to fight it while killing babies and freeing child rapists. 
Additionally, there's a sea of anti-leo dolts with no skin in the game crying that this Bill is unfair … may they live in a world without Cops.


----------



## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Maybe the angle is to have it on the books and then they always plead out to " life without parole "

Always insane to see murderers going up for parole.

Killers just wait until the victim's family members have moved away or died off.


----------



## LGriffin (Apr 2, 2009)

pahapoika said:


> Maybe the angle is to have it on the books and then they always plead out to " life without parole "
> 
> Always insane to see murderers going up for parole.
> 
> Killers just wait until the victim's family members have moved away or died off.


It is insane. That filthy prick, Wesley Cook, AKA mumia some made up shit, should've been put down in 1982. Since then, he's become a star of the left, who fight for his release, while the Faulkner family has to be dragged through hell repeatedly.
Now, democRATS elected a lowlife DA like Rollins who would like to set him free. He and his spokesperson race-bait and mock Danny's supporters:
Murdered Cop's Widow Outraged Over "Racist" Tweet by Philly DA Spokesperson Jane Roh


----------



## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

That's the problem . These scumbags live on to become celebrities in some bizarre , twisted way.

Manson is a prime example . He lived far too long and got regular press coverage . Makes no sense.


----------



## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

pahapoika said:


> That's the problem . These scumbags live on to become celebrities in some bizarre , twisted way.
> 
> Manson is a prime example . He lived far too long and got regular press coverage . Makes no sense.


So true. I just saw something about Flashbang in the news the other day. How long are we going to have to support that waste of DNA?


----------



## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

Kneecaps, woods, wolves. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

I'm wasting my time, I know it. Even in places like Texas, it would never fly, and those folks have both feet usually planted in reality.


----------



## kdk240 (Nov 7, 2002)

maybe it's time to go back to archaic times. Or do what they do in Russia. They never know when it's coming and they just lead them into a cell with a concrete floor and a drain and that's it. No appeals no screwing around, .... it's over.


----------



## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Always liked the scene from The Good Bad and The Ugly

_You've been charged with the crime of murder
You have been found guilty of murder 
The sentence is death
May the Lord have mercy on your soul 
PROCEED !!!
_
Of course to Tuco got a reprieve thanks to Blondie shooting the hangman's noose but at least the trial was quick_ _


----------



## IamTheDude (Aug 6, 2017)

It wont happen but here's how I hope this will play out:

Liberal D-Bag: So are you saying cops deserve special treatment, killing them warrants death penalty? 
Rational person: Yes! 
Liberal D-Bag: That does not seem fair! Cops signed up for the job!
Rational person: Ok, Then how about we bring back the death penalty for ALL 1st degree murder in MA. If you kill someone and its pre-mediated, extreme, or committed during another felony, YOU DIE! 

Its a bonus if we use something other than lethal injection (despite SC rulings)... I'm thinking trampoline and ceiling fan but i'm up for whatever.... Scaphism could make a comeback!


----------



## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

IamTheDude said:


> It wont happen but here's how I hope this will play out:
> 
> Liberal D-Bag: So are you saying cops deserve special treatment, killing them warrants death penalty?
> Rational person: Yes!
> ...


Some of us are in favor of busted kneecaps, deep woods and wolves.


----------



## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

HH, if neither of us were married, I'd ask you to be my wife!!!!


----------



## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

Kilvinsky said:


> HH, if neither of us were married, I'd ask you to be my wife!!!!


LOL I could just imagine the vows. "In sarcasm and snark."
We'll have to set up a double date sometime. I think you and Hubby would get along. He's almost as bad as I am. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Mrs. Kilvinsky is probably pretty cool too.


----------

