Attorney General Jackley discusses philosophy on death penalty cases
Northern State seminar comes less than month after office pursues capital punishment case
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley’s take on the death penalty is strong yet nuanced.
He’s both prosecuted and defended death penalty cases.
And as a Catholic, he’s been able to justify capital punishment within his religious beliefs.
Protecting “innocent life” is what he’s obliged to do, Jackley told Northern State University criminal justice, sociology and political science students during a visit to campus on Thursday.
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Among other things, students asked him how his personal morals and ethics affect his job. When it comes to the death penalty, Jackley referenced Genesis 9:6 in the Bible.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God, he made man,” the verse reads.
The students have been discussing capital punishment in class and have also heard from speakers with other viewpoints.
Jackley told class about how his office works and detailed different capital punishment cases with which he’s been involved. He said that as far as he knows, he’s one of only two attorneys in South Dakota who have defended and prosecuted death penalty cases.
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