Bowser Commission Formed, Members Announced

The Indiana General Assembly recently announced the members of the Bowser Commission, a group of Indiana legislators assigned to examine mental illness and death penalty sentencing in Indiana--carrying out the good work and fulfilling the moral vision of the late Indiana Senator, Anita Bowser.

On February 28, the Indiana Senate passed a resolution urging the Legislative Council to create the Bowser Commission - at a time when Senator Bowser's cancer battle was growing in seriousness. She passed away just days later. Before her illness, she had attempted to pass legislation barring execution of the mentally ill.

ND ASK applauds this step toward the work Senator Bowser hoped to see completed, in the naming members of the Commission, which will be active through November 1. We await the findings of their work, trusting that the injustice of sentencing the mentally ill to death will surface and influence future Indiana law.

See previous posts regarding Senator Bowser and the creation of the Bowser Commission by clicking the label, "Bowser," below.

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Indiana Loses 'the conscience of the General Assembly'

This past Sunday, Indiana Senator Anita Bowser of Michigan City died in a hospice in Indianapolis.

Senator Bowser was consistently a fierce critic of the death penalty and was at the forefront of working towards ending its use in Indiana. She managed to raise the minimum age for death penalty offenders to 18 and was working towards ending execution of the mentally ill during the current legislative session.

She will be greatly missed.

It nows falls upon others in the Indiana Senate to take up the banner of the noble causes which she furthered during her tenure. Hopefully, her bravery and passion has inspired others to take such strong stances against the death penalty within the legislature. There would be no greater tribute to Senator Bowser than the elimination of the death penalty.

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The Bowser Commission

As those of you who reside in Indiana may already well know, State Senator Anita Bowser, has been battling the death penalty throughout her legislative career. However, she has unfortunately taken up a personal battle with cancer which has recently taken her away from her work and it is uncertain whether or not she will be returning to the Senate. In honor of her recent attempts to pass legislation barring the execution of the mentally ill, the Senate passed a resolution which urged the Legislative Council to establish a commission to examine the issue of such executions.

We applaud Senator Bowser for her constant efforts to bring attention to the death penalty's immorality and ineffectiveness and hope she has a speedy and sustained recovery.


The bill reads as follows:

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Legislative Council to assign and direct an interim or statutory committee to study issues pertaining to the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals.

Whereas, Mental illness does not preclude the imposition of the death penalty in the State of Indiana;

Whereas, Various aspects of the death penalty continue to evoke constitutional scrutiny in the highest courts of this state and country;

Whereas, The issue of mental illness and the death penalty is an increasingly active topic of discussion in legislatures and courts throughout the United States;

Whereas, Senator Anita Bowser has been a tireless champion of civil liberties and the rights of all our citizens;

Whereas, Senator Anita Bowser has been a staunch and tireless opponent of the death penalty;

Whereas, Senator Bowser has authored legislation which successfully precluded the imposition of the death penalty on mentally retarded persons;

Whereas, Senator Bowser has also authored legislation which successfully precluded the imposition of the death penalty on individuals less that 18 years of age;

Whereas, in recognition of Senator Bowser's efforts on these issues, the legislature should study the issues surrounding the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals; Therefore:

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly
of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives concurring:

SECTION 1. That the Indiana State Senate hereby urges the Legislative Council to assign and direct an interim or statutory committee to study issues pertaining to the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill individuals.
SECTION 2. That the committee, if assigned by Legislative Council, should operate under the direction of the Council and be known as the Bowser Commission.
SECTION 3. The Secretary of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Legislative Council.

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