HB 249, which adds an aggravator to the list of death penalty-eligible crimes, was passed through the Kentucky legislators this year. This marks the first expansion of the death penalty in Kentucky in over a decade. This action did not happen in a vacuum. Recently, we've seen folk in the legislature make calls to see executions resume in the Bluegrass State. Some of those legislators went as far as to inquire about the execution readiness of the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, the only facility in Kentucky that is set up for executions. This is not a drill.

We cannot allow this backslide! Sign your name to our petition and let the Kentucky legislature know that we demand a death penalty abolition bill and NOT this slow march back to executions.