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Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka responds to a request by Rev. A. B. Wolfe of Kiester, Minnesota, for information on the death penalty in Kansas. Hoch describes the 1872 state law requiring a governor's order for state executions. He notes that this law effectively abolished the death penalty in Kansas since governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders. Hoch claims his strong opposition to capital punishment played a key role in the 1907 state law repealing the death penalty in Kansas. Kansas did not reinstate capital punishment until 1935, and the U. S. Supreme Court declared that law unconstitutional in 1972.
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1905-1909: Hoch)
Date: December 19, 1907
Item Number: 208788
Call Number: Governor's Records, Hoch, Box 4 Folder 4
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 208788
Collections - State Archives - Governor's Records - Hoch, Edward Wallis
Date - 1900s - 1907
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Crime - Murder
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Punishment - Death penalty
Government and Politics - State Government - Governors - Hoch, Edward Wallis
Government and Politics - State Government - Legislature
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - Notable Kansans - Hoch, Edward Wallis, 1849-1925
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Thematic Time Period - Age of Reform, 1880 - 1917 - Progressive Era, 1900 - 1916
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/208788
